


A Leaf in a River

by josiahstick, Super_Big_Mac



Category: Persona 3, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Mild P3 spoilers, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-09 13:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11670069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josiahstick/pseuds/josiahstick, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Big_Mac/pseuds/Super_Big_Mac
Summary: It is 2014, and Wakaba Isshiki is struggling to balance completing her cognitive psience research alongside taking care of her daughter Futaba and cultivating her relationship with the charming Sojiro Sakura. Meanwhile Goro Akechi is forging his own path in the world, and to do so seeks out a distinguished man. As the streams of fate cross, disaster is imminent...Prequel fic which focuses on the two years ago before Persona 5 began. Not recommended if you have not finished the game, or at least made it past the tomb and/or casino Palaces.Written and plotted by josiahstick, edited by Super_Big_Mac





	1. A Ripple in the Creek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akechi is threatened, while Wakaba is presented with a new opportunity.

Wakaba Isshiki could not be called a good mother.

She could certainly be called a loving mother, but not a good one. She had been a good mother at one point, but since she had confirmed the existence of a cognitive world— a strange, unknown other reality where humanity’s unconscious selves manifested —she had only become more and more distant from her daughter, Futaba Isshiki.

She fed Futaba, clothed her, kept her safe, but those were only the qualities of an adequate mother. Only a passing grade. And so Wakaba could not be a good mother. She could only proceed with her research of the cognitive world. It was all she could do now, day and night, to try and find a way to save herself. Herself and Futaba.

Wakaba considered all of this as she washed the dishes and carried them to the cabinet, her path hampered by the many miscellaneous items sitting upon the floor in their tiny apartment. Futaba needed to be kept safe. She hoped that should she fail, Sojiro would keep her safe. _Please._

This train of thought was abruptly halted as Futaba began to tug on Wakaba’s dress, trying to get her attention.

“Mom?” Futaba asked, a pleading look in her eyes.

Although she had not wished for the child, not expected her coming, she had certainly welcomed her birth, in spite of the fact that she was woefully unprepared for her. But Wakaba was confident and certain that she could handle it. She’d decided that she would have to. She very well could not let Futaba stay with her uncle… Wakaba’s rotten brother. Youji was a man with many faces, and Futaba naturally had no idea of his true nature.

“What is it, Futaba?” Wakaba looked upon Futaba kindly as she approached her desk, which was covered with all manner of strange science equipment.

“Are you going to work again?”

“Futaba…”

Wakaba’s heart was shattered by Futaba’s innocent, desperate gaze. She only wanted the best for her daughter. And she did want to spend time with her. It had been so long—

“It’s been so long!” Futaba cried, “Please! Please, please, please! I just want to go somewhere! Anywhere! Couldn’t we go somewhere fun? Or at least take me to buy a game? We haven’t been to Akihabara in forever! Or meet up with Grandma or Sojiro or Uncle Youji or—”

Futaba stopped short when she saw the look Wakaba was making.

“Futaba. Please, don’t bother me right now.” Wakaba’s tone was sharp and short. “I’m very busy with my research. I need to finish it as soon as possible. I’m sorry.”

“Bu-bu-bu…” Futaba buried her face in Wakaba’s dress and began to cry. “You just think your research is more important than me… Don’t you?!”

“Futaba!” Wakaba cried out. “Don’t talk that way to me! Go sit over…”

Wakaba’s voice trailed off into the ether. Futaba was still crying, and Wakaba couldn’t bring herself to continue telling off the poor girl. So she shut her mouth and listened.

“You don’t really love me!” her daughter wailed. “I’m just a pain and a burden and… and… you’d be better off without me, wouldn’t you?!”

Futaba sobbed for a good few moments longer. Wakaba set aside the dishes, knelt down and gave her a hug.

The girl stopped in surprise, and her tears began to slow. Futaba looked at Wakaba, her temper softening and her eyes widening hopefully.

“I’m sorry, Futaba,” she said softly. “Please listen to me.”

The child nodded gently.

“I have to finish this for us,” Wakaba explained. “It’s not just my work on the line, Futaba. It could be our lives.”

Futaba was silent.

“My research is almost over. Once it’s finished,” Wakaba promised, “we can go anywhere you like.”

“A-a-anywhere?” Futaba’s face lit up, and she dried away her tears.

“Yes, anywhere at all.” Wakaba smiled. “I’m sorry I’ve left you alone for so long, Futaba. But please, try to understand. I need to complete this work. Even if it costs me my life.”

“I…” Futaba returned the smile carefully. “I understand. But I don’t want you to die…”

“I won’t die,” Wakaba promised. “I’ll be here for you, Futaba. I’ll do my best to stay.”

* * *

Masayoshi Shido pored over the papers in his hand, uncertain of what to do. He looked up at the TV screen, bored.

_“Today, Ace Detective Goro Akechi made a comment on the strange 'mental shutdown' incidents happening sporadically throughout the smaller regions of Tokyo.”_

“Ace Detective, huh?” Shido scoffed at the notion. That kid was just some publicity stunt. There was no way that he could be real. Once Shido became Prime Minister, he’d have such obnoxious schemes discontinued. The boy was so arrogant, and it very much irked him.

 _“Although these incidents have been limited to low-profile individuals,”_ Akechi said with a hint of knowing pride in his voice, _“the unknown nature of their cause, or perpetrator if one should exist, have caused much alarm within the police. I am currently working with them to resolve the incidents, and I am certain that someone will soon be caught and face justice for these crimes.”_

“‘Mental shutdown,’ hmm…” Shido said aloud to himself. Curiously enough, it sounded quite like the conjecture posed by the stolen research data he was perusing. But of course it was all a whole bunch of hooey.

If it was, though, if it was…

No. It couldn’t. There was no way such a thing could prove practical. He’d just have to go about it the normal way. With public appeal, controlling the economy, embarrassing the opposing party, whatever. One way or another, he’d make it out on top.

 _But…_ it would take such a long time, and someone would see through him. If he messed one thing up, it would stick with him forever. Sure, he could easily be officially absolved of any such blunder, but the public was not stupid. He might emerge victorious in the election, but he’d never have the whole country’s approval. That, Shido felt, was an utmost necessity. If he didn’t have that, he’d never truly win.

“Good afternoon,” said a pleasant boy’s voice. Shido looked up and saw a familiar-looking brown-haired boy in a plain black and white suit. He had a sly smile, and his eyes were a bright and deep brown. “How do you do, Shido-san?”

Shido dropped everything and stood up, apprehensively. “Who are you?!” he demanded loudly. “Why are you in my office?!”

“Please pardon my sudden entrance, Shido-san,” the boy said, bowing respectfully, with a small smile upon his face. “My name is Goro Akechi— the Ace Detective. You may have seen me on television.”

Shido turned off the television.

“I have no idea who you are, and I did not invite you here.” He gestured to the open door. “Get out at once! And do not call me Shido-san!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Goro Akechi said, unfazed. “If I left now after the start of such a long and involved relationship, it would be such a shame.”

“Wha-what do you-” Come to think of it, this boy reminded Shido of someone. Who could that be?

It was of no importance. This impudent brat needed to leave at once. Shido could not have an _‘Ace Detective’_ poking through his belongings. “Never mind! Get out!”

“Shido-san,” Akechi continued, ignoring him and staying in place. “I do not believe that would be in your interest. You see, I have… let us call them “specialties,” that may be of service to you. You may want to close the door.”

The teen celebrity’s attitude was truly infuriating. Shido wanted to give this boy a good smack in the rear and send him back home to his mother.

 _“GET OUT BEFORE I CALL SECURITY!”_ Shido shouted.

“Very well, I shall do it myself.” Akechi closed the door. At seeing this, Shido picked up his desk phone and began dialing rapidly.

“What if I were to tell you, Shido-san,” Akechi started, calmly, not disturbed in the slightest by Shido’s adverse reaction to his presence, “that I could manipulate public thought?”

Shido stopped dialing, but the call was already going. The dial tone echoed conspicuously throughout the office.

“Manipulate public thought… What are you talking about?” Shido shouted. “Are you insane?!”

“No, no, not at all,” Akechi answered, still wearing his stupid smile. “I speak the truth. Create any convenience, cause any accident, make anyone do anything anywhere…” Akechi lowered his voice slightly, though it was not necessary— Shido had not just this office, but the entire floor of this building, all to himself. _“Kill_ anyone. Leaving no trace of my involvement. I can do this, and much more, by simply changing cognition.”

Cognition?

The security guard at the front desk picked up. _“Shido-san? Is everything alright?”_

Shido hung up the phone without responding.

“Where did you come from,” he demanded of Akechi. “What do you know? Tell me everything at once, or you will regret ever setting foot in this place for the remainder of your miserable life!”

Akechi simply chuckled and held up his smartphone.

* * *

_“Although these incidents have been limited to low-profile individuals…”_

“Odd,” Wakaba muttered. “It’s almost exactly like my research.” She found it odd that almost no one else at the lab took her work seriously, especially considering the continued occurrence of strange events such as those. Further worrying was that someone had stolen data from the laptop.

She would have thought that it was Futaba, had she not secured her computer to deter her from doing so. Clearly, it was someone else, who had access to the lab, and possessed greater technological prowess than either of the Isshikis. Wakaba wasn’t certain who would have hired such a person, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that they wished her harm. However much her colleagues ridiculed her, she knew that many men would kill to get their hands on her work.

Thankfully, the thief had only copied the contents of her hard drive, and not all the folders and notebooks she kept at home. So Wakaba still stood a chance. There was only one thing to do: She would have to investigate the cognitive world— and see it destroyed.

Wakaba had no idea how to do this, however. Though she possessed a reasonably good understanding of how it functioned, there were also many theories, which Wakaba could not fully confirm. But she was almost certain that most of them were accurate.

All she knew for certain was that it was a world of “Shadows” made up of humanity’s repressed unconscious thoughts. There were also several reports of people having “mastered” their own Shadows in this world as “Personas.” It could not be said for certain how this was done, but if she herself could achieve it…

The only things that Wakaba had to go on outside of her own findings were a ton of urban legends, and a series of essays primarily written by a mad scientist by the name of Kirijo. This man had written some nonsense about beginning the world again.

Some of the writings, however, were written by Kirijo’s employees. One claimed the creation of a Shadow-mastering android. Wakaba thought this to be very amusing, though it would be incredible if it were true.

Although it was nearly impossible to access one’s Shadow, there were many places around Tokyo where the wall seemed… unstable, is how she would put it, perhaps. So if she could just—

“Isshiki-san!” called out a delighted, childish voice.

It was Wakaba’s nosy lab partner, Hisa Hisaya. A childish, frizzy-haired woman whose voice was as hard to hear as her name was hard to say with a straight face. Wakaba certainly understood how she could get so excited, but preferred to remain slightly more professional, especially in the lab.

“Hisaya-san,” Wakaba said, smiling. “Are you well?”

“You bet I am!” Hisa cheered happily. “How about you? Got any further on that cognitive stuff?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I have.” Wakaba nodded, though she did not do so honestly. She had not made any progress for a good few weeks, and had no idea what she was doing. She had spent much of her time poring over information that already existed, and it was frustrating her to no end.

“Oh. Well… I just wanted to let you know,” Hisa told her, looking excited, “your handsome coffee boyfriend is here to pick you up!”

Wakaba instantly closed her laptop. “Coffee boyfriend?”

“Yeah, he’s got that nice-lookin’ vintage car… you don’t remember? Cool glasses? Nice looking goatee that really suits him?”

Wakaba closed her laptop and went outside. “I’ll see you later, Hisaya-san.”

“Have a good date!”

Wakaba smiled and left. However, Hisa was quite mistaken. This was not a date. She needed to tell Sojiro something very important.

* * *

“Palace…? Shadow? What nonsense are you talking?!” Shido said, dumbfounded.

“Please allow me to demonstrate.” Akechi then pushed the button, and sent them to Masayoshi Shido’s cognitive world.

Shido stared out of the window and gasped in shock at the sight before him. “What… what is this?! What have you done?”

Akechi opened the window. Shido stuck his hand out, feeling the alien air, confirming that it was not a mirage.

A brilliant, vast sea swept through Tokyo, reflecting the pure pink sky above them. And in the middle of it all, a huge cruise ship sailed forth, bearing the National Diet Building upon its deck. As it passed by, it barely missed hitting the office building, and Shido felt the vibrations.

“This is your world,” Akechi answered calmly, and, pointing at the ship, continued, “and that… is your Palace. The castle of your desires.”

“My desires?” Shido was stunned. “I… this cannot be! How could I ever desire for this country to be drowned in… I would have no market! No support of the public! This does not make any sense!”

“Oh, but it can be,” Akechi told Shido calmly. “You may not be willing to readily admit it, but this is the power you desire, is it not? Who do you think is on that ship?”

Shido stuck his head out the window and thought it over as the ship sailed away from them…

“I would suppose…” Shido smiled slightly. “If this country were sinking, I would put my accomplices on that ship. Those who were worthy or useful.”

“Yes,” Akechi confirmed. “I myself have been on that ship, and that is exactly who is there. Your cognition of those who support you.”

Shido looked downwards into the ocean, thinking about who was there. He wondered if they were alright. Perhaps they were drowned. Perhaps he had drowned them. He decided then, that it did not matter… what mattered was that he had this power.

“I…” Shido smiled. “I think I could come to like this. By all means, Akechi… Ace Detective. Tell me more.”

“You would like to attain something similar in reality?”

“Indeed,” Shido chuckled. The sea outside grew more active, and crashed violently against the windows. “I would kill a hundred times over to have such a beautiful ship as that. To see the world drown beneath my feet and bow to my whim. Forget about Prime Minister! I’ll—”

“Hold it!” Akechi yelled. “Something’s coming this way!”

The door to Shido’s office rattled and burst open. A husky security guard entered. _“State your business!”_ it shouted. _“You are trespassing in Lord Shido’s domain!”_

 _“Lord_ Shido… ?” Shido marveled, not expecting the manner to which he had referred. However, he quickly accepted it. “Yes, that is I. How may I—”

The guard transformed into a strange white dog-beast. _“YOU ARE AN IMPOSTER OF LORD SHIDO! YOU SHALL BE ELIMINATED!”_

“An imposter?” Akechi laughed. “No, this man is the genuine article. _PERSONA!”_ Akechi transformed into a black-masked, black-suited thing, and summoned a peculiar being which looked as if it was made from light. _“LOKI, DESTROY!”_

The Shadow was swiftly dispatched, and Akechi transformed back to normal, turning to Shido. “Apologies for the interruption. I shall explain that later.”

Shido was awed. “Such power! With someone like you, I could very well—”

And then the windows shattered, as the sea level rose above them and flooded the office. But before Shido could drown in his own overflowing desires, Akechi was able to again reach his phone, and—

* * *

“Wakaba!” Sojiro was holding a small object in his hand. He seemed very happy to see her. “Good to see you, sweetheart. I brought you some coffee.”

He held out a small thermos, which Wakaba eagerly took and sipped from. And she recognized it on her tongue— The rich scent and deliciously robust flavor of Sojiro’s coffee, that only the two of them knew how to make.

“You’re getting better,” she said, smiling at him. “But it’s a little bit _too_ strong.”

“Last time you said it wasn’t strong enough,” Sojiro chuckled, putting his arm around her shoulder. “Geez, I was the one who made the recipe, but you’re always the one telling me how to do it!”

She laughed heartily, but then put on a perfectly straight businesslike face.

“Wakaba,” Sojiro said. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanna talk to you about an idea I had.”

“Oh… I have something to tell you too,” Wakaba replied. “But, you first.”

“Oh no, you can go ahead,” Sojiro assured her.

“No, you asked first—”

“Ladies first.” Sojiro’s adamance was firm, but gentle. “Come on. I want to hear what you have to say.” Sojiro stuffed whatever it was he was holding into his pocket and flashed one of his trademark charming grins.

“About my research—” Wakaba began, but stopped abruptly, seeing a slightly reluctant look on Sojiro’s face.

“Er… I think… someone might be…” It was difficult for Wakaba to say. “I think someone might be trying to steal it.”

“Why’d they want to do that?” Sojiro asked, a little quiet. “It’s just a bunch of theories. There’s not much anyone could do with it since none of it’s actually been put into practice…”

“But…” That wasn’t entirely true.

She remembered the day it’d worked, two years ago, when she’d been there… and had heard her own voice. Her own voice, calling out…

Wakaba didn’t even want to think about it. It hadn’t been easy to escape. Her own voice, her own twisted, shadowy voice, still haunted her dreams to this day.

“Well… I…” Wakaba began to speak, but the words got caught in her throat.

“I’m finding this difficult to talk about,” Sojiro admitted. “You look like you are too. Can we just let it go for today? I want to have a good time tonight.”

Wakaba considered this. Sojiro seemed quite eager to enjoy himself with her. Plus, there had still been no progress in her research, even after all she had done. Perhaps a break was what she needed.

“Okay.” She decided it would be best to go along with what Sojiro wanted to do, at least for now.

“Was there anything else you wanted to say?” Sojiro smiled appreciatively.

“No… I don’t think so.” Wakaba was sorry she’d killed the mood. “What did you want to tell me?”

“You know what, we’ve been here too long,” Sojiro decided. “How about I tell you more when we get there?”

Apparently there’d been a bit of miscommunication, as it seemed that Sojiro did, in fact, see this as a date. Wakaba felt extremely anxious about taking time off from her research, but, it seemed like it might be for the best…

“All right,” she said, giving into Sojiro’s eternally charming smile. Wakaba smiled back, and Sojiro seemed very pleased. He gave her a reassuring look and began to drive.

“Don’t worry,” he promised. “It’ll be alright. We’ll have fun.”

Her heart warmed by his confidence, Wakaba leaned her head against Sojiro’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

He smelled like their coffee.

* * *

“So,” Akechi said, finally concluding his proposal, “what do you say? Would you like to make use of my power?”

Masayoshi Shido carefully pondered all that the boy had told him. Palaces. Shadows. Metaverse. The data stolen from that researcher, Wakaba Isshiki, certainly corroborated Akechi’s claims. Not that Shido would have needed such proof, after being shown such a strange world. It was quite a powerful weapon. It could very well be the key to the power he had been seeking all this time.

But, the famous Ace Detective had admitted to being a fraud. Not only that, but to be the very culprit he publicly claimed to be seeking. Shido briefly wondered if perhaps he ought to simply turn Akechi over to the police.

 _But if I did that, it would almost certainly lead to a colossal media frenzy,_ Shido reasoned. _And then my approval ratings would go down, especially if they found out about all my racketeering and blackmail to become a Diet member…_

“Give me some time to consider it,” Shido said. “May I have your cell number?”

“Ah, I’m afraid not,” Akechi said regrettably. “My phone is unfortunately not currently able to make calls. I’m staying at a foster home at the moment, and my caretakers forgot to pay the bill.”

“Then may I have the foster home’s number?”

“Do you really think that would be a good idea?” Akechi pointed out. “Anyone who uses the phone there gives up the luxury of privacy.”

Shido sighed. The boy certainly had a point. He was careful, and that was certainly a commendable quality. “Very well. In that case, how might I reach you?”

“Sadly, you can’t. But do not worry, Shido-san. I shall come to you.” Akechi bowed respectfully. “When might I be able to see you again?”

Shido thought it over a moment. It wasn’t like he had a very crowded schedule. He hadn’t much to do apart from Diet meetings and other similar engagements, most of which could be skipped or called off if need be. “I have no preference. What time is convenient for you?”

“I also have no issue with any time you may propose,” Akechi assured Shido. “I am not a particularly busy person, apart from television appearances. And for someone as important as you, Shido-san, I can easily have those postponed.”

“In that case,” Shido decided, “you may return here by this time tomorrow. By then, I will have an answer for you.”

“I shall do just that,” Akechi promised. “Thank you for your time.” He graciously bowed his head and left the office.

The false detective had an intriguing proposal, that was for certain. But there was something about him that bothered Shido. The kid reminded him of someone. Someone who he had not seen in many years.

That was not relevant, Shido decided. For now, there was someone else whose help he needed to ask. He picked up the phone and began dialing.

“Kaneto,” he said, speaking crisply into the receiver. “There is someone to whom I need you to deliver a message.”

* * *

“You know,” Wakaba said, beaming, “you really didn’t have to do this for me.”

“I know,” Sojiro returned kindly, “but I tried my best for you, sweetheart.” He flashed a brilliant smile at her. “You look very nice tonight, by the way.”

“Oh, you’re a flatterer, Sojiro,” Wakaba laughed. “You caught me completely unawares. I didn’t even have a chance to put on lipstick!”

They both laughed together a moment, and looked at each other lovingly.

The two of them were sitting across from each other in a lavishly decorated restaurant. Sojiro had been saving up his money to surprise her, and now they were drinking some of the most delicious wine she had ever tasted.

“So, honey,” Wakaba asked sweetly, sipping her drink, “what was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Well, what I wanted to tell you… how do I say this…” Sojiro tugged at his goatee anxiously. “I’m… thinking of opening a coffee shop.”

“A coffee shop? That sounds wonderful!” The thought of it quite excited her quite a lot. The special coffee they had perfected together, being served to the wider world. It was a fantastic prospect. “What would you call it?”

“Hmm…” Sojiro mused this over for a minute. “Actually, I don’t know… I was thinking we might name it something classy and old-fashioned. Like—”

“How about ‘Leblanc?’”

Sojiro stopped and turned to Wakaba in surprise. “How’d you come up with that all of a sudden?”

“It’s the name of one of my favorite authors,” Wakaba told Sojiro with a sweet grin. “Maurice Leblanc.”

“Maurice Leblanc, huh?” Sojiro mused. “Never heard of him before.”

“I think I have one of his books with me…” Wakaba leaned down and rifled through her bag. “Hmm, no, I seem to have left it at home.” She righted herself and resumed eye contact with Sojiro.

“What was it called?”

“I think it was… _Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Burglar.”_ Wakaba considered this a moment. “Yes— that was the title. It was something of a random plot spread out over many only somewhat related events, but nonetheless it was an exciting story.”

“I just might have to read it sometime,” Sojiro decided as he took another sip of wine. “Anyway… Leblanc, huh.” His hands assumed a thinking pose on his chin as he considered it. “It sounds sophisticated, yet… relaxed, somehow. I think we could keep it.”

Wakaba laughed and gave him a coy look. “Sojiro, you can’t keep a name.”

“Well, I know, I meant that—”

“It’s not like names are the sorts of things you could take hold of and keep in boxes,” Wakaba said flippantly. “I think they’d probably get mad.”

Sojiro chuckled. “You always take everything so literally. I suppose that’s what I get for dating a scientist.”

Wakaba giggled, smiling at her own joke. Sojiro seemed quite happy, and joined in her childlike mirth.

“Anyway,” she wondered, “you said ‘we’ when you were talking about the coffee shop. What did you mean by that?”

“Oh, uh yeah,” Sojiro said, his nervousness becoming more apparent, “I guess I should really…”

“What, Sojiro?” Wakaba was shaking with anticipation of whatever he was going to say. If he was getting this nervous, it had to be big. “What did you want to do?”

He cleared his throat and did his best to regain his composure. “Wakaba, there was something else I wanted to ask you.”

“What’d that be?”

“Well…” Sojiro reached into his pocket and took out a small, elegant black case. The thing he had been hiding before.

“Wakaba…”

“Don’t tell me…” she breathed. Wakaba knew what was coming now, and she was quite surprised. But then again, how could she have not seen it? Surprising her, taking her out, telling her about the coffee shop… everything made sense. Of course. He would want to have her there with him.

Sojiro opened the case.

“Will you marry me?”

* * *

Akechi smiled gleefully as he left the office. It was good that he’d been able to quickly access his phone and send himself and Shido back from whence they had come. Had they stayed but a minute longer, they’d both have doomed themselves.

It was enough, however. The convincing had been done. Although Shido had not yet agreed to take him on, Akechi was confident that he soon would. His plot to exact revenge would soon be in its beginning stages.

The one difficult thing to do had been to encourage Shido and pretend to be on his side. Akechi was personally disgusted by Shido’s Palace. He had seen other more objectively dangerous Palaces than that before, but that one was quite the most—

“Hey, _GORO!”_

Who was that? Akechi shrugged it off. Probably just an overexcited fan of the Ace Detective. Akechi was irritated that they had the audacity to call him by his personal name, but he decided it was best to simply ignore them. He did not respond or look behind him, and kept walking.

_“GORO-KUN!”_

“Goro-kun?” he muttered aloud to himself. “What an obnoxiously persistent person…” However, it was no great concern to him. If this kept up, he’d just have to tell them to go away—

 ** _“MISTER ‘ACE DETECTIVE’ AKECHI!_** I’m talkin’ to _**YOU!”**_

Akechi sighed and turned around to face them, quickly fixing a warm false smile upon his face. “Good afternoon,” he said pleasantly. “May I help you?”

“I’m here to give you a message, _Goro-kun.”_ the young man said curtly. He had bright, spiky, flaming orange hair, and was wearing an eyesore of a purple suit which really did not fit his appearance at all. He was at least 22 for sure, and a good bit taller than Akechi.

“I apologize, but I am in quite a rush, so please make this quick.” Akechi bowed respectfully.

“Man, you’ve got manners, kid!” the man laughed. “Fat lot of good that’s gonna do you though. We ain’t negotiating here.”

Akechi found this extremely amusing, as he did not perceive this man to be having any manners himself. “Are you here to engage in a physical altercation?” he inquired calmly. “If that is the case, I should warn you that I am expertly trained in various manners of martial arts and defense techniques.”

This wasn’t actually true. Akechi was a worthless fighter outside of the Metaverse. Still, he hoped his confidence would serve to deter this impertinent interloper.

The fellow laughed uproariously. “Ha, that’s rich! No, I’m not here to fight it out. I’m Eiichiro Chisaka.”

Akechi narrowed his eyes. “Sorry, who are you?”

“Eiichiro Chisaka!” The purple-suited man seemed quite annoyed. “You’re saying you ain’t never heard of me before?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say I have, no,” Akechi said apologetically. “Should I have?”

“You bet your ass you should have,” Chisaka declared. “My father made a huge donation to a hospital in rural Tokyo to benefit children in poverty. That ring a bell to you?”

“I’m afraid I wasn’t aware of your or your father’s exploits prior to now. What does any of this have to do with me?” Akechi asked. “And who is your father exactly?”

“You don’t know who my father is?!” Chisaka was fuming now. “How did you… whatever! The point is, I was supposed to be on TV to talk about it earlier today, but my appearance was cancelled.”

“Oh, that is unfortunate. Good day.” Akechi turned away to leave, but Chisaka grabbed him by the collar and spun him around.

“I wasn’t done, you brat!”

Akechi rolled his eyes, and Eiichiro snarled.

“My appearance got cancelled, and some impudent child ‘detective’ was scheduled in its place! He was ‘solving a case’ or some bullshit!”

“I see,” Akechi said in the most apologetic tone he could muster. “I apologize for the inconvenience. However, the TV station’s schedule was out of my control. I would suggest that you—”

 _“SHUT UP, YOU BRAT!”_ Chisaka yelled abrasively. “Now you listen here. The Chisaka family are legends! No one messes with us and gets away with it!”

Akechi shrugged nonchalantly. “I suppose I just did.”

“You’ve got some lip there,” Chisaka commented. “That’s gonna be your downfall, Goro-kun. I’m gonna cut you off the airwaves!”

Akechi froze, dropping his usual facade. “Are you serious? But I haven’t done anything to you!”

“You’ve stood in my way. You’ve done _everything_ to me!” Chisaka spat, still fuming with anger. “So I’m gonna do everything to you! You’re not gonna survive, _Ace Detective._ I’m gonna tell the police that you’re the one behind the mental shutdowns!”

 _WHAT?!_ Akechi couldn’t believe it. Did he have any proof? Or power to do that? No way! There was no way he could…

“But that’s not true!” Akechi shouted, glad that his experience with acting made him sound indignant and annoyed rather than worried or afraid. This fool couldn’t hope to have proof. But if the police ever deigned to give his word the time of day…

“Baseless accusations such as that could land you in a lot of trouble with the police, and I’m sure even your father’s wealth can’t save you from everything.” Akechi did his best to keep a straight face.

Of course, that was naught but a bald-faced lie. It was reasonable to think that anyone believing they had the power to get him arrested without evidence likely had the sway to stay out of jail themselves.

“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Chisaka said, smirking. “I know full well you’re not the culprit, because a killer wouldn’t be plastering your face all over the TV, if you’re half as smart as you think you are. No, you’re just some no-name loser who wants to steal the spotlight from the people who deserve it. But people will believe whatever I say nonetheless. Your word against mine, Goro-kun.”

He laughed and strutted away with a triumphant, arrogant smile plastered across his face.

Akechi carefully considered the situation. If Eiichiro Chisaka got him arrested, it would likely make it more suspicious if any incidents didn’t happen while he was in custody. Or if any happened right as he was released… and, that wasn’t even accounting for how this charlatan could potentially interfere with his gaining Shido’s trust!

If even the smallest rumors were started about his involvement, it could ruin everything he’d worked for... Akechi gritted his teeth behind a carefully crafted guise of unamusement. Igor had warned him that something like this might happen.

He needed to do something about this. He’d just have to eliminate this “Chisaka” cretin before he got the chance to ruin his plans… Yes, that would be exactly what he’d do. He smirked and stood up, pulling out his phone.

“Eiichiro Chisaka.”

* * *

Wakaba stared, stunned, at the ring in Sojiro’s hand.

“Sojiro, I… Thank you, but…”

“What’s wrong?” Sojiro asked, his voice still lighthearted. “Cat got your tongue?”

Wakaba bit her tongue, and closed her mouth. She had not expected this at all. How could she answer? She wasn’t ready for marriage in the slightest. It was hard enough caring for a child. Not to mention…

But yet, she wanted to. She really wanted to join him. Wakaba really did want to wed Sojiro and join him in his coffee shop… but how could she do that now?

“Uh… Sojiro, I think—”

The words stuck in her throat. How could she tell Sojiro that her life was in danger at a time like this? He was so earnest, so… cool. He seemed really excited about all this, but—

“Excuse me!”

Wakaba and Sojiro turned around to see who had spoken. A bespectacled man in a suit with messy brown hair rushed towards her.

“Isshiki-san,” the man said apologetically, “please pardon the intrusion, but I must speak with you at once. My name is Masaji Kaneto. I have come bearing news of a great opportunity for you.”

Masaji Kaneto looked extremely nervous. Isshiki looked at him and quickly mentally analyzed his face. He seemed to be quite hyperactive. “What do you want with me?”

He cleared his throat and began to explain. “Simply put, my boss would like to offer you a job,” Masaji Kaneto explained. “He saw your research. He’s interested to see what you could do?”

“Saw… my research?” Wakaba was extremely suspicious.

“Yeah,” Kaneto went on, smiling excitedly. “Really impressed by it. So what do you say? He’s a great boss!”

“Hey buddy,” Sojiro said, sounding agitated, “you’re interrupting. My lady and I were busy enjoying our evening. I think you’d better make this quick.”

Wakaba narrowed her eyes at the man dubiously.

“What would this work entail?”

* * *

_“WHO’RE YOU?!”_

Akechi glared menacingly at Eiichiro Chisaka’s Shadow and removed his mask, revealing his face. The red void of Mementos from which he had come swirled wildly behind him.

“Goro Akechi…” Chisaka’s Shadow gasped. “So the killer is you! My, you’re even dumber than I thought!”

“No, Eiichiro Chisaka,” Akechi said, gleefully leering at him with a clear and profound arrogance. “I am even smarter than you could ever imagine. I have come to prevent you unwittingly exposing me. You said it yourself, didn’t you? That you would have never guessed?” Akechi cackled at the Shadow malevolently. “Of course not. Sometimes, the best-laid plans… are the stupidest ones.”

“You… you… you killed those people…” Shadow Chisaka snarled. “Even I would never stoop that low! _YOU BASTARD!”_ He began to transform. _“I’LL GET YOU FOR THAT!”_

Chisaka transformed into a great, tall demon with red skin and many arms with swords. “You’re a monster… _I’m gonna KILL YOU!!!”_

“I’d like to see you try,” Akechi snapped, tearing away his black mask. _“Arise, LOKI!”_

* * *

As Masaji Kaneto entered the restaurant, a tall, fair woman with long red hair sitting in a van watched from afar with binoculars. She wore a long skirt and a small black jacket. Sitting besides her was a small girl with short hair of a light blonde shade. She was wearing a black cloak which hid most of her body, and strange red headphone-like things on her ears.

“Did you find the researcher?” asked the blonde girl in a nearly-human sounding voice. “Should we attempt to approach her?”

“No,” said the fair woman, in a plain, logical tone. “Doing so now would be dangerous. It appears that that man is seeking her out as well.”

“Does that man mean her harm?”

“I don’t believe so.” The red-haired woman peered at them through the glass windows. “The man appears to be attempting some sort of negotiation. Hmm…”

A tangible moment of silence passed between the tall woman and the strange cloaked girl.

“What are you thinking right now?”

“I am thinking that, perhaps…” she lowered the binoculars from her face, revealing her deep reddish-brown eyes. “The enemy is onto Isshiki as well.”

The blonde girl lifted the cloak’s hood from her face and peered outwards to the window, seeing Wakaba Isshiki and Masaji Kaneto as they conversed. Sitting at the table nearby was a black-haired man with glasses and a goatee, looking extremely annoyed at the situation. Her deep sea-blue eyes followed this all with precise motions, the irises and pupils rotating and revolving within her head as if they were lenses on a camera.

“We must be careful,” the blonde girl decided, blinking for the first time in about thirty minutes. “If they get to her first, we’ll be unable to complete our mission.”

“That much is quite clear,” the fair woman agreed. “But it may be too risky to talk to her for the time being. For now, we should observe and plan our next move. Let’s go.”

“Very well. May I drive?”

“No.” The red-haired woman moved herself into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle. “I know you’re adept with other machines— but this is a company car, and you’re still only fifteen.”

The younger girl nodded, smiling slyly as she said the one word she was best known for.

“Understood.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you liked this. Basically, this is right before Akechi starts working for Shido and... yeah. That happens. But don't worry about it! I've got some cool surprises planned for this so it'll be interesting to read I hope.
> 
> If you're not familiar with me, or my writing, well, I wrote and am still writing another very huge fic entitled _[The Many Arrests of the Phantom](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10941561/chapters/24346209)_ , which my editor Mac is also working on with me. I'll be trying to write one chapter of this and then one chapter of that every week or so. The two fics are planned to be connected in small ways, but you do not need to read that fic to understand this one or vice versa. So, although I would love it if you read all the stuff, don't feel pressured :)
> 
> I've also created some original works of writing here and other stuff like short films over the years, unrelated to P5. If you wanna see all that just look at my profile and stuff I guess. If you enjoyed this fic I do hope you'll consider doing one or more of those things!
> 
> anyway, till next time!


	2. Dissolving Oceans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fate of Eiichiro Chisaka incites a peculiar mix of confusion, uncertainty, shock and excitement. In the wake of these mixed reactions, several meetings transpire between many key individuals. Wakaba Isshiki anxiously sets out to protect herself from her mysterious assailants, and the red-haired woman chooses to reassume the role she held in years past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I've been moving around a lot, doing stuff, etc etc. Also, I've decided to overhaul the Many Arrests of the Phantom as multiple fics, so there is that. That should be coming around in a few-ish days. Anyway, I had fun writing this and all so yeah! I'm proud of this! now to take a nap...

“Please allow me to take a seat,” Kaneto requested. Not waiting for an answer, he turned to an empty table and took a chair and a menu, which he then placed at Sojiro and Wakaba’s small two-person table.

The couple stared at him in disbelief. Both were wondering what was Masaji Kaneto’s problem, and what the hell he thought gave him the right to invite himself to their table. Sojiro slowly stowed away the engagement ring which he had been holding the past several minutes.

“Hmm… I think I’ll have…” He held up his hand to flag the waiter. “Waiter! Bring me a tall glass of red wine.” He then turned and eyed Wakaba. “Well,” he said, “my boss heard you’re a brilliant scientist and researcher. Or should I say… _Psi_ entist?”

“As in cognitive psience?” Sojiro butted in, still irritated at having been interrupted. “What do you people want with that? It’s only a theory. There’s no practical application for it.”

“That’s not exactly true, Sojiro,” Wakaba said quietly. “You should be taking this more seriously.”

“Yes, it’s true that it hasn’t been tested,” Kaneto explained, nervously, “but we think we’ve figured out… well, a way, to like…”

“Hold it.”

Kaneto stopped talking, and Wakaba gave him a hostile glare. Meanwhile, Sojiro looked on, still confused.

“What’s with this?!” Wakaba said angrily. “I don’t know you. I’ve never seen you before. Are you an intern at the lab or something?!”

“An… intern?” Kaneto looked extremely offended. “Isshiki-san, I am even better than an intern! I am _MASAJI KANETO!_ Assistant to the glorious Mas-” He stopped suddenly and covered his mouth, realizing he had said too much.

“Mas-who?” Sojiro wondered. “Whatever, I ain’t never heard of that guy before.”

“Furthermore,” Wakaba went on, ignoring his arrogant outburst, “I try to have one good evening out with my boyfriend, and you come from nowhere and ruin it at the worst possible time?! You people have no tact!”

“Umm…” Kaneto cleared his throat, clearly intimidated by the situation. “I apologize! In that case, I’ll be out of the way as soon as possible— oh, um, would you like to come work with us?”

“NO!” Wakaba was furious. “You can tell your _‘boss’_ to get the hell out of my business!”

“Okay, fine,” Kaneto said slowly, “b-but I should warn you… my boss is not the kind of guy you want to say—”

“I don’t care,” Wakaba insisted. “If he’s such an important man, he should put his money where his mouth is instead of sending such a rude fellow like you in his stead! Now give us the money you owe for that drink you put on our tab and go away!”

Kaneto sheepishly retrieved about five thousand yen from his wallet and quickly turned to leave the restaurant. The waiter suddenly came, having brought his requested drink— but sensing the tension among the three of them, stopped and made a concerned expression. “I’m sorry, is there a problem with our service?”

“No, not at all!” Wakaba said earnestly. “You’ve done a splendid job! This man was just seeing himself out. He has a _very_ important appointment to attend to.”

“Ri-right!” Kaneto agreed, dashing out the door.

The waiter raised an eyebrow. “In that case, what would you like to do with—”

“Oh, that?” Wakaba asked, looking at Kaneto’s abandoned wine. “We don’t want it anymore. Could you please take it away and remove it from our tab?”

“Very well,” the waiter said. He left with the wineglass.

Wakaba turned to Sojiro and sent a shrewd smile his way. “I suppose that guy just left us a free five thousand yen. I’ll consider that as compensation for interrupting our date.”

Sojiro, however, appeared no longer concerned about Kaneto’s rudeness. “What was that about? What did he mean when he said that his boss had figured out a way?”

“Sojiro…” Wakaba turned to face him, looking far less headstrong than she had been towards Masaji Kaneto. “I thought you didn’t want to talk about this.”

“I don’t,” Sojiro replied. “But it seems like it’s pretty important, if someone cares about it enough to waltz into a restaurant and interrupt our date over it. And I wanna know how they knew where we were. I haven’t told anyone that we’re dating.”

“I think…”

Again, Wakaba was nervous. And her mind was in so many different places. Proposal. Kaneto. Offer. Sojiro. He was so handsome. She hated to see him upset. How could she…

“I’m being— I think someone is targeting me. Trying to exploit my research for something. Something… very bad.”

At this, Sojiro narrowed his eyes skeptically.

“How would that be possible, Wakaba? Even if they could use it, what could they do?”

“The… tampering. Messing with hearts. If they figure out how to… to do it. They could—”

“But those are theories!” It seemed Sojiro really didn’t want to believe it. “I mean… they are, right? You never told me anything about anyone actually going to another world!”

 _But they’re not,_ Wakaba thought, desperately, _they are real. But… how do I explain that to you? If I told you what happened… you would never believe me… would you?_

“What if I told you, Sojiro,” Wakaba asked, beginning to cry, “that I had been there?”

“There?” Sojiro narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by ‘there?’”

“The… the other world.”

There was a long silence between them.

“I don’t… I don’t understand.” Sojiro groaned and put his forehead in his palm. “How could you have… are you sure you… you are telling me… what?”

“The other world,” Wakaba repeated. “I’ve been there. I’ve seen it. I swear. It’s real, Sojiro.”

“Okay… even if… it were real, I can’t imagine…” Sojiro shook his head. “How did you get there?”

“I don’t know!” Wakaba cried. “I don’t… I couldn’t… Sojiro. I was so scared…”

“Wakaba, sit down. People are staring.”

She looked around, seeing that Sojiro was correct— she had not retaken her seat at their table. And several people were in fact looking up from their own meals to see what was going on.

So Wakaba sat down again, and sighed, terribly exhausted. “Sojiro.” She took a deep breath, before choosing her next words.

“I have to go back to that world.”

“Are you serious?!” Sojiro hissed, indignantly, not believing it. “Even if we assume that you were actually there, and that you didn’t have some sort of hallucination… why would you want to go back there? And how? Wakaba, you can’t… you can’t get so caught up in something like this! That you don’t even know is real!”

“You don’t… think it’s real? You don’t believe me?”

“No, no,” Sojiro amended quickly, “I believe you, it’s just… just… this is…”

Sojiro’s stammering faded away as Wakaba’s distress became more apparent. Her face was wet with tears, her hands were shaking, and—

“Sojiro, this _is_ real! This is real shit that real people are _hunting_ me over! I need to figure out how to stop them! Not just for me… If I don’t find out how to stop them, the whole world could be in danger! I have to find a way to wipe out the cognitive world!”

Sojiro stared at her blankly.

“I have… to… I have to… do something.” Wakaba lowered her voice, and quietly wiped the tears from her eyes. “If I don’t…”

“I…” Sojiro seemed lost. “I don’t think… I’m sorry…”

Wakaba stood up again, and made for the exit.

“Wakaba!” Sojiro called out, also standing up, and holding out his hand to her. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going home,” she told him plainly as she collected her coat from the entrance. “Thank you for taking me out tonight, Sojiro. I’ll think about your proposal.”

* * *

_“DIEEEE!!!”_ Akechi shrieked, as he again summoned Loki and sent a Curse spell flying at Eiichiro Chisaka’s Shadow. Chisaka dodged Akechi’s assault and made a swift counterattack, knocking him to his feet. He groaned, his energy mostly spent.

Akechi and Shadow Chisaka had been fighting for about twenty minutes. He was a formidable opponent, having very nearly beat Akechi to a pulp. But Chisaka wasn’t looking pretty either. His health had been mostly drained, and he looked about as exhausted as Akechi did.

“You know…” the Shadow said, reverting to its initial form, “I suspected you for a long time, Goro-kun. I had a bit of a hunch that it just might be you. I thought that would be an amusing turn of events, if it were. But I dismissed the notion as being ridiculous… preposterous… to think that I was right all along…”

“Then why would you tell the police that I was,” Akechi snarled, “if you had no proof?!”

Eiichiro Chisaka smiled. “I was simply seeking to entertain myself. But now that I know it is you, Goro-kun. Oh, it’ll be such a marvelous scandal!” the man cackled. “And I will be lauded as a great hero! My father will finally approve of me, and I will no longer need to inherit the spoiled fruits of his clumsy legacy!”

“I see. So this isn’t about your family,” Akechi said through gritted teeth.

The Shadow Chisaka shook his head. “No… I was simply using my father’s name to gain attention!” he laughed. “You know who he is? Takahiro Chisaka!”

“The politician… ?”

“The politician!” He cackled uproariously, pleased that Akechi had finally made the connection. “Yes!”

“I don’t know much of him,” Akechi informed Chisaka, a blank expression on his face. “Only his name.”

“In that case, I shall enlighten you. He is a powerful member of the National Diet! The current head of the Chisaka family! We’re a marvelously wealthy bunch. My father’s purchased an enormous quantity of shares in Japan’s most powerful corporations! He could practically buy the world if he wanted to!” Chisaka’s Shadow laughed and laughed.

“But he’s such a foolish man… only renting, but never buying. He’s an idiot to leave all that power untapped… power like _OKUMURA FOODS!”_ Chisaka smiled. “Yes, my father owns a significant portion of Okumura Foods’ stocks… about three to five percent, yet has enough money to buy out the whole thing— and then some! And despite that… he only seeks to guide the company, not take control! What kind of imbecile would do that?!”

“I wonder,” Akechi mused sarcastically. Except he didn’t. He didn’t really care.

“And I, who am charted to be married away to Okumura’s impudent little daughter while my father helps the man dissolve his shares, and become a great politician himself. What nonsense… there is nothing worth seeking in politics… politics change nothing! All those Diet members who talk so big about changing this country for the better are engaging in glorified slacktivism! No one can change the world that way!

“And so I shall abandon my father’s path! I shall show him, him and my good-for-nothing brother Sugimura! I shall become a great hero! Starting with ruining you! Now… Goro-kun… It is time for you to meet your _demi-”_

**_WHIRR…_ **

**_fizzt._ **

Chisaka’s pompous, moronic speech ended quite abruptly. The Shadow collapsed and began to dissolve into a dark mist. Akechi smiled as his hand trembled, unevenly gripping a strange gun— the sci-fi styled laser blaster which he had earned upon awakening to his Persona.

“How… did I… I…” he clawed at his face in disbelief. “What have you done?!”

“I am afraid, Chisaka,” Akechi said in his usual pleasant tone, “that I cannot be killed. Because, you see…” he chuckled, as his voice began to take on a demented edge. “I… am…”

Chisaka moaned as he began to dissolve further and further into the ether.

 _“I_ am the hero.” Akechi declared calmly, smiling malevolently. “It is not I who has stood in your way, Eiichiro Chisaka, but you who has stood in mine. I am… the hero!” Akechi looked upwards into the endless red depths as he cackled on and on. _**“I** AM THE HERO! NOT YOU! AND THE HERO…”_

“Please… no!” Shadow Chisaka gasped.

 _ **“THE HERO,”**_ Akechi shouted triumphantly, as he summoned Loki and blasted Shadow Chisaka with one final attack, vaporizing him, **_“CANNOT BE DEFEATED!”_**

There was one last scream from Eiichiro Chisaka’s Shadow, as he fully vanished from existence.

His mission now completed, Akechi coughed. The battle had done quite a number on him, and he felt rather tired. It had been much more difficult than usual, but thankfully, there was an easy solution to this.

Loki was not currently at his full potential. It was about time that he paid Igor a visit.

For now, however, it was best that he go home and get some rest. Eiichiro Chisaka had been taken care of, and now everything that stood in his way to Shido had been cleared. Tomorrow would be a big day.

* * *

_Hello… ?_

_Futaba. Please stay here, Futaba._

The voice rang out to Wakaba throughout the deep red depths. Futaba… it was her Shadow. Her Shadow was…

 _Come on!_  
_Man, this day sucks…_  
_The government’s taking our money…_  
_Whatever… not much we can do about it._

Voices echoing around her… most indistinct…

_SWOOOOOOOOSH clack clack clack…_

A train, a subway train, flew past Wakaba, within inches of her face.

“Hello?” she called out to the void. “Anyone? Please? How do I go back?”

_Mom?_

“Futaba?!” Wakaba began running to the escalator, searching frantically for the source of the voice. “Futaba… FUTABA!”

_Mom Mom Mom it’s time to_

_“FUTABA!”_ Wakaba screamed, desperate. The voice of her daughter sounded so real. If Futaba was lost down here… how? How could she be such a negligent mother, to have let her daughter get lost in this world? All she wanted… was to protect her… her child.

_Mom, it’s time to wa-_

_**“FUTABA!”** _

* * *

Wakaba bolted upright in bed. Her eyes were wide open, her breathing rapid and panicked…

“Futaba… Futaba… baby…”

“Mom? I’m right here!” Futaba said cheerily, bouncing up and down on Wakaba’s bed. “Your alarm didn’t make any noise when it went off for some reason, so I decided to wake you up!”

“Futaba…” Wakaba sighed in relief, calming down. Her daughter’s warm, innocent gaze was probably the best thing she could wake up to after the nightmare she’d just had. She smiled, fumbled for her glasses on the nightstand, and put them on. “Could you please get off of my bed?”

Futaba obliged, rolling off and onto the floor. “Ouch!” she cried out when she hit the carpet.

Wakaba sat up and looked down at her daughter, beaming. “You should be a little more careful there, Futaba,” she warned, her voice full of mirth. The bed was small, not very high off the floor, and the carpet was soft, so she knew Futaba wasn’t really hurt.

Futaba giggled. “I will! You should be careful too, Mom.”

Wakaba nodded in agreement. “I’m always careful.”

The instant Wakaba said this, she realized it wasn’t entirely true. There was the time she had forgotten Futaba.

And it was something that Futaba had evidently not forgotten herself. She looked quite unsettled at the memory.

“You were talking in your sleep,” Futaba told Wakaba, sounding concerned. “Were you dreaming about that other world again?”

Wakaba said nothing for a moment. She averted eye contact with her daughter and stared off into the distance, contemplating her answer.

Futaba.

That other world.

She had only wanted to…

“I’m sorry that happened, Futaba. But can we please not talk about it?”

“Are you going to the lab again today?”

“I am.” Wakaba nodded regretfully, her eyes forming the best apology she could make. “Please don’t worry, Futaba. I’ll be done soon. I promise.”

Futaba laughed at this. “You make a lot of promises.”

Wakaba smiled at her daughter and pulled out a piece of paper from inside her purse. “Then how about you make me some of your own?”

“Another promise list?” Futaba seemed a little disappointed. “Mom, I’m not a little kid anymore!”

“Are you so sure about that?” Wakaba said playfully, holding it out. “I’ll take you somewhere special if you finish it.”

Futaba took the list, her face lightening a little as she read it.

The list contained fifteen different objectives, ranging from mundane things like household chores and trips to the store. Most of them were spread out over a period of several days. The top, which read _~ promise list ♥ ~_ in Wakaba’s charmingly messy hand script, was colored in red, purple and green.

“Alright,” Futaba conceded, folding and pocketing the promise list and beaming at her mother. “I promise. I think I can do this!”

“I know you can, baby.” Wakaba gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek and turned to leave. “Make sure you get dinner!”

“Wha-” Futaba was incredulous. “Why’s that my job?! It’s not on the list!”

“Look closer. Promise number six.” She grabbed her coat and made to leave their tiny apartment. “I’ll see you tonight!”

* * *

“Where the hell are you going?” Takahiro inquired as Eiichiro prepared to leave the Chisaka household.

“I’ll be back soon,” Eiichiro said dismissively. “Don’t worry about me, Father.”

“You better,” Takahiro warned him. “Today is a very important day.”

“Yeah, every day is a ‘very important day,’” Eiichiro said disdainfully under his breath as he trotted out the door. “Important this, important that… I’m sick of it.”

His father, Takahiro Chisaka, a powerful and wealthy Diet member, was ridiculously strict and stupidly punctual. He was constantly contradicting himself, saying that Eiichiro had choices, options, that his opinion mattered. Bullshit. Eiichiro’s opinion was worth nothing to Takahiro whatsoever.

And meanwhile, his idiot little brother, Sugimura, got to slack off, sleep with about six or seven different girls at a time, and generally be a pain in the ass. But Eiichiro? Eiichiro wasn’t “cool” like Sugimura. He had the better looks, the cooler attitude, the elder status, but at the end of the day, he was just his father’s puppet. A puppet for his father to get on Kunikazu Okumura’s good side.

But today, all of that would change.

He was on his way to the police station, to declare himself the hero who had discovered the culprit behind the mental shutdowns. That idiot Ace Detective would have the police turn on him and get arrested, and it would be absolutely hilarious. Eiichiro smiled at the thought of it. Yes… soon enough.

Soon enough, Eiichiro would be held up high above his father, and the world would bow to his feet. He would dismiss Sugimura, like the piece of trash he was. He would be more powerful, more famous, cooler. Even cooler than the coolest kid in town. Well, Eiichiro had no clue who the coolest kid in town might be, but whoever they were, it didn’t matter. He would be cooler.

Here he was! The nearest station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The officers inside would hail his coming! Now— it was time! Eiichiro burst through the doors, and shouted, “Good morning, officers!”

Everyone inside stopped working and stared at him blankly.

“What do you want, kid?” asked one of the cops who had been busy doing desk work.

“I am Eiichiro Chisaka,” Eiichiro announced. “Son of the great politician Takahiro Chisaka!”

Everyone gave him a strange look.

“Wait, so who are you exactly?”

“Eiichiro Chisaka! Haven’t you seen me on TV talking about the great deeds of my father? Takahiro Chisaka?”

“Oh, that guy!” one of the officers realized. “Yeah, I know him— wait, what do you have to do with him?”

Eiichiro groaned. He was not famous at all! This would never do if he were to be known as a great hero.

“Well, never mind,” the officer said. “What do you want, kid?”

“I come bearing important information about the mental shutdown incidents!” Eiichiro said. “Make sure you write in your report that it came from Eiichiro Chisaka, the hero who—”

“What?!” the officer said. “Kid, I’ve no clue who you are, but you don’t strike me as much of a hero. Just get to the point already. What is it you want to tell us about the mental shutdowns?”

Eiichiro looked up at the officer angrily, his fists clenched and his face growing red with fury.

 _“HOW DARE YOU TALK DOWN TO ME!”_ he shouted. _“I AM EIICHIRO CHISAKA! THE HEIR TO THE LEGACY OF THE CHIS—”_

“Hey,” said a taller officer, emerging from a larger office labeled _Sergeant Ito._ “You’re making a scene. What do you want?”

“Glad you asked!” Eiichiro said theatrically, forgetting his anger at not being recognized. “I would like to inform you of who is responsible for the mental shutdowns—”

“Is this guy for real?” another officer whispered, rather audibly. “I know clues about the mental shutdowns have been hard to come by, but it’s hard to take him seriously with that attitude.”

“How dare you spread slander about me behind my back!” Eiichiro shouted, startling the officer who had spoken. “I am _Eiichiro Chisaka—”_

Sergeant Ito placed a hand on Eiichiro’s shoulder, and he stopped talking.

“I know who you are, kid,” the sergeant said plainly. “If you have something to say, you can tell me about it and we’ll act immediately upon your word.”

“Thank you, sir!” Eiichiro said gratefully. “In that case, the perpetrator of the mental shutdowns is—”

A sudden stop.

Eiichiro heard a voice screaming inside his head, and his brain seemed to turn to mush…

“Hey, kid? You alright?!”

Eiichiro collapsed to the floor as his eyes turned blank, and retreated within his head…

_No… this can’t be… this can’t! This means… that…_

_DAMN YOU… Goro-kun!_

“Hey!” shouted the sergeant. “Something’s wrong with him! Something… what the hell!”

“A mental shutdown?!”

“Wha- Jesus Christ! Here? Of all places?!”

**_“SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!”_ **

* * *

Wakaba had only just arrived at work. There was no one else in the research lab. It would seem that either she was a little early, or everyone else was a little late. Feeling too exhausted to check her watch and ascertain which was the case, she sat down and took a moment to reflect on the previous days’ events.

Kaneto. His mysterious employer. Psience. The other world. Sojiro. The ring he had offered her.

Wakaba loved Sojiro deeply. He was clever and considerate. He was kind. Cool and intelligent, dashing and handsome, almost like the hero of a spy movie. But it was quite clear that despite those impressive qualities, he was far from such an idealized figure.

Sojiro had wits and smarts, but beneath all that, he was just a man, like every other man. And like every other man, there were some truths which he would find hard to swallow.

Also like other men, he would sometimes make the best possible decisions at the worst possible times.

It was ridiculous to think so, but that marriage proposal scared Wakaba more than anything else she had to deal with right now. She wanted to accept. She really did. But…

Her train of thought trailed away as her cell phone buzzed. Who… Who was calling her? Wakaba rarely gave her personal number away to anyone, and Futaba knew full well not to call while she was at work. Sojiro would almost certainly be working as well, and besides, it would be strange for him to call her again so soon after the previous night.

All these theories were quelled as Wakaba retrieved her phone and took a look at the screen. It was an unknown number.

Her finger hovered over the answer button for a minute…

And then changed positions, denying the call with a swift swipe across the screen.

It seemed that she would have to change her phone number again.

Where was Hisaya? Wakaba supposed she was probably late again. Hisaya was the sort of person who was always late. But still, she found it odd. They were supposed to work on this project together today. Wakaba had made it quite clear to Hisaya about how important it was.

Wakaba also hoped Futaba was doing alright, and wouldn’t have any problems at the store. It wasn’t an unusual task for her, and it had seemed fine to put it on the list at the time. But she was a little worried, considering the current circumstances, that someone might try to kidnap or harm her to get to Wakaba.

Wakaba knew this to be unlikely, and besides, she’d taught her daughter how to recognize and avoid strangers, so she wasn’t too worried. Usually no one in Tokyo paid either of them any mind, so they weren’t often bothered. But today, she had a bit of a bad feeling.

* * *

“All done!” Futaba said cheerfully, as she finished the sweeping of the floor. The first objective on the promise list that she’d set about tackling was cleaning the area around her futon, which, her mother had rightfully pointed out many times, was ridiculously messy. Now she had to do about three other things today.

“Do the laundry… buy the right kind of bento… empty the fridge of spoiled food… ride your bike more often… and… hmm,” Futaba carefully examined it, before noting another objective among all the others which she hadn’t noticed. “Meet someone new…”

Futaba hadn’t been talking to other kids her age lately. The kids at school were mean. She was glad she didn’t have to go there today, thanks to it being a Sunday. But—

_Kana-chan…_

Had Wakaba guessed that Futaba was lying about them still being friends?

There was nothing she could do. Nothing she could have said that day, when she found out what Kana’s parents had done to her. And perhaps were still doing. Her mother couldn’t have helped. No adult, no matter how nice they were, could help Kana. There was nothing that could be done…

Futaba put that out of her mind. It wasn’t good to focus on things like that. No, now was the time to fulfill her promises! So she got up and headed off to the store with the money Wakaba had given her.

* * *

Masayoshi Shido was still bored.

Sitting in his office, he continued reading the paper. There was nothing particularly interesting on the news… Except… No. Nothing except the rising stock prices of Okumura Foods. That company was growing bigger and bigger every day. Soon, Big Bang Burger would outclass its greatest competitor, Wild-Duck Burger. Meanwhile, investors were losing interest in the previously rapidly growing Junes franchise, in favor of larger shopping centers which would span the size of entire neighborhoods…

Not that Shido cared. He had no interest in such things. He only needed to know for practical reasons, to know what investments would yield the greatest returns. But another name caught his attention, on another page…

_Junya Kaneshiro…_

Wait a second, that wasn’t even the news. That was a business card someone had given him. What did he need that for?

Oh right… Yes, it had been an interesting, if risky, proposition. Perhaps Shido would call that man about his services later. For now, though—

_KNOCK, KNOCK_

“Enter.”

The door swung open, and Masaji Kaneto, Shido’s loyal secretary and assistant, stepped inside Shido’s office.

“Excuse me, Shido-san!” Kaneto said, speaking at a rapid pace. “I regret to inform you that Wakaba Isshiki has declined your employment offer!”

“What?” Shido groaned, agitated. “Damn… now what choice do I have but to…”

“Shido-san, can I help with something?”

“No, Kaneto,” Shido replied. “Leave me at once. I wish to consider my options.”

“Of course!” Kaneto bowed respectfully, then turned and departed from the room. “I look forward to speaking with you later!”

“Likewise,” Shido said plainly. He really didn’t, however. Masaji Kaneto was a fool, like all the others around him. He was naught but a necessary stepping stone. It was pleasing to see how much the man idolized him, but he could never hope to be anything like Shido. As soon as he came to power, Kaneto would be swiftly disposed of.

As Goro Akechi would obviously have to be. It would only be sooner rather than later, if Shido opted not to employ him. It couldn’t be certain that doing so was a good idea. Unlike all of his other collaborators, Akechi actually had a way of fighting back should Shido attempt to rid himself of him.

And Shido could not rid himself of the feeling that Akechi was… familiar, somehow. Who was this boy really… what was his significance? Shido couldn’t pin down whose face it was, but Goro Akechi definitely reminded him of someone important. Someone very, very important indeed.

Shido looked at his watch, and realized that he hadn’t the time to ponder this. He had a Diet meeting to go to. He picked up the phone and dialed. It rang a moment before the call was answered.

_“Shido-san?”_

“Hello, Kaneto,” Shido said plainly into the receiver. “I have a meeting with the Diet. Please bring my car around the front of the building.”

_“Yes, at once!”_

Kaneto hung up, as Shido stood up from his desk and collected his belongings.

As he departed from the office, the TV, having been left on, began to display a sudden news broadcast…

_“Son of politician Takahiro Chisaka, Eiichiro Chisaka…”_

* * *

It was now about half past one in the afternoon. Sugimura Chisaka was lounging in bed wearing a large bathrobe, having just emerged from the shower several minutes previously. Next to him was a woman, groggy and only half-dressed, whose name he had not bothered to remember.

His father, Takahiro, had left several minutes ago for a Diet meeting. The servants had all gone out as well, leaving Sugimura and the woman alone in the Chisaka mansion. The TV was blaring the news, which Sugimura had hardly any interest in. But he also had hardly any interest in anything on TV in general, so he figured the news was just as good as anything.

“Sugimura…” the woman moaned, blissfully ignorant. Sugimura ignored her, instead sitting at the foot of the bed and boredly viewing the television. He had nothing much better to do.

The news changed, showing his brother Eiichiro’s face. Sugimura scoffed. Why was his brother, of all people, on TV? It was rare that any of his scheduled media appearances ever stayed scheduled, but this was even more unexpected since there hadn’t even been an appearance scheduled to begin with.

_“Son of politician Takahiro Chisaka, Eiichiro Chisaka, died at Tokyo Metropolitan Jene Rikku Hospital earlier today after experiencing a ‘mental shutdown’ at a police station.”_

“Eiichiro, huh?” Sugimura mused, looking at the TV.

“Oh?” the woman said curiously, sitting up in the bed. “Your brother? He’s died?”

“Looks like it,” Sugimura noted, evidently unconcerned. “I guess that means Dad’s gonna make me do all his work now. Whatever…”

The woman reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to be comforting. “Are you upset?”

Sugimura shrugged, neglecting to reciprocate the gesture. “Not particularly.”

Eiichiro had always been an obnoxious little shit, even in their childhood. They’d never got along very well, frequently getting into fights due to how distant they were from one another.

They’d both resented their father Takahiro, for not being around half the time and micromanaging their lives in the other half. Being constantly separated, sent to different schools, different homes, different jobs, all at his whim. But neither had tried to bond with the other over that common grudge.

And despite being the one who was assigned most of the work— the elder one, and Takahiro’s rightful heir —Eiichiro always insulted Sugimura for being “lazy.”

Lazy? No. It was Eiichiro who had been lazy. He had done all that their father had said. Followed every wish, obeyed every command, without putting forth even a single bit of extra effort. But Sugimura would not be lazy. Sugimura was now the one who would inherit all the Chisaka fortune, and the rights to their enterprise. Sugimura would properly wield that power…

Once his father died, Sugimura would take all the money, and he would make his life truly wonderful. He would replace his father, and absorb all the family’s riches for himself. He grinned as he pondered the prospect.

No, he wasn’t sad about his brother’s death. Actually… he was quite excited.

* * *

The woman was reclining on her bed, wearing nothing but a towel which covered the better part of her body. Her red hair was damp, and her eyes were half-closed. The TV, which she had neglected to turn off earlier in the morning, was blaring the news…

There was a sharp knock on her door, and she suddenly sat upright in bed, startled. Her eyes snapped all the way open, and she looked at the clock.

What time was it? She had showered, but since then, exhausted from a sleepless night, found herself tired and fatigued, and then fallen asleep shortly thereafter…

“Are you awake, Mitsuru-senpai?” Her teammate’s voice reverberated from beyond the door.

The woman, Mitsuru, quickly rushed to her wardrobe and began searching for something to wear. “Yes, I— I just woke up!” She’d known going about without her bathrobe was ill-advised, but it really wasn’t an easy habit to break.

“My apologies— Did I wake you?”

“No, not at all!” Mitsuru assured her, trying to choose between her white blouse and red shirt. “Which of these would look better…”

“We need to speak with Wakaba Isshiki as soon as possible,” the nearly human voice called as Mitsuru deliberated over her choice of outfit. “I discovered a disturbing video on the internet earlier this morning. Another mental shutdown has taken place today.”

“Another one?!” Mitsuru gasped. “Wasn’t there just one last week?”

“Yes— But this case is particularly worrying. The last was one of a previously unknown individual who worked as what some might call a ‘salaryman’ or ‘office drone.’ So it did not get much attention from the media. This person, however, was—”

But before Mitsuru’s companion could finish her sentence, the news abruptly changed from commercials to a breaking news report.

_“Son of politician Takahiro Chisaka, Eiichiro Chisaka, died at Tokyo Metropolitan Jene Rikku Hospital earlier today after experiencing a ‘mental shutdown’ at a police station.”_

“Did you hear that?” Mitsuru asked.

“Yes,” the girl confirmed. “That is who I was about to name.”

_“Before his death, Eiichiro Chisaka claimed to know of the culprit behind the mental shutdown incidents. A thorough search of his person has revealed no clues whatsoever. The police are currently looking into what his connection may be…”_

Mitsuru swore under her breath. “Eiichiro Chisaka must have gotten too close to the responsible party…”

She discarded her towel and, finally deciding upon the blouse, hastily set about putting on her clothes.

“I attempted to phone Isshiki this morning,” continued the other girl, “However, she did not answer her phone. We must find and protect her as soon as possible, and stop whatever Shadows are causing these mental shutdowns.”

“I don’t think they’re Shadows,” Mitsuru said, as she finished getting dressed. “This isn’t random like Apathy Syndrome. These cases have a pattern to them. This is intentionally manufactured by someone with an agenda who is well aware of the chaos they are causing.” She opened the door to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, who was still wearing her black cloak.

“If that would be the case, then who is responsible?”

“I don’t know yet, Aigis,” Mitsuru said. She was now dressed in her white blouse, black tights, red heels, and a black skirt with a red hem. Quickly applying red lipstick, she collected and put on her jacket. “But whoever it is— I shall see to it that they are found and executed!”

“Very well,” Aigis agreed, smiling and blinking in acknowledgement. “Let us go at once.”

“Hang on a moment. I forgot something.”

Mitsuru walked over to her sock drawer and opened it. After a moment, she retrieved her old red armband. The one she had worn seven years ago. It seemed like the time was ripe to wear it again. Taking great care with it, she slipped it onto her left arm, positioning it below her shoulder.

“Why are you wearing that, Mitsuru-senpai?”

Mitsuru smiled, remembering all that had happened back then with Minato and the others.

“For luck.”

* * *

The instant that the Diet meeting ended, Shido stood up and departed from the premises. He didn’t remember much of it, and really didn’t care. These Diet meetings were a waste of time. Everyone had constantly, endlessly deliberated over the issues, rather than actually deciding to take any action…

This was exactly why he needed to become Prime Minister as soon as possible. Japan needed a strong leader. A man of action, who would teach this country the value of work, rather than expecting everything to come magically, and every problem to solve itself. He needed to be the man who would save this country from sinking into obscurity. The man who would save the world from sinking into oblivion…

His train of thought was interrupted by a familiar voice.

_“HEY! MASAYOSHI!”_

Shido spun around, to see his former college dorm mate, Takahiro Chisaka, running towards him. Hmm… this was odd. Takahiro was usually emotionless, but during the meeting had looked quite upset, and at one point stepped out to make a phone call. When he returned, he appeared on the verge of tears, but soon reverted back to his normal stoic appearance.

What business might he have? Shido was quite curious…

“What do you want, Takahiro?”

“My son’s dead,” Takahiro snarled. “I know you killed him!”

Ah, so that was why.

Shido gritted his teeth angrily. Takahiro had been an absolute nuisance since high school. He’d always been the richer man, having come from the wealthier family. But Shido was the better talker. While Takahiro was able to remain a top student with his skills, efforts, and prestigious bloodline, it was Shido who became class president, student council president, and placed first on every exam.

Takahiro was always number two, while Shido was number one. It irritated him quite so, as Shido had come from nowhere— his family was nothing special. But eventually, Takahiro conceded Shido was the better man, and set aside their differences long enough to join forces with him on a class project. Eventually, they made peace and became friends, though at times they certainly disagreed on many issues.

However, one such disagreement had gotten very personal in college. They’d had a very intense debate over… Shido didn’t remember what the exact issue was, but since then Takahiro had always been trying to pin the blame on him for all his problems. Of course his claims were always utterly untrue and completely unfounded.

“Your son, huh?” Shido said, blatantly feigning concern. “That is unfortunate. I wish you luck resolving the issue.”

Except, unlike the other politicians trying to wrap Shido up in scandals, Takahiro did so not out of a desire to sabotage Shido’s progress— but a deeply personal grudge against him. Shido personally could not care less. Once he became Prime Minister, Takahiro would be swiftly unseated from his position in the Diet.

“You’ll pay for this, Masayoshi!” Takahiro shouted. “You’ve been trying to ruin my career from the beginning! I know you killed my son to try and bring me down!”

“I have no interest in sabotaging your plans, Takahiro,” Shido insisted. “This is simply a case of terribly bad luck for you. Have a nice day.”

“That’s bullshit!” Takahiro screamed angrily as Shido nonchalantly walked away. “Your days are numbered, Masayoshi! Okumura and I— we’ll win in the elections and you’ll be exposed for the shady scum you are!”

Ha. As if Takahiro hadn’t done many shady things himself.

Shido was not worried in any way whatsoever. Takahiro had no evidence against him. The most he could do is send the media after him, and Shido could simply talk his way through them if that proved necessary.

Talk, talk, talk… it was all most politicians ever did. And as much Shido hated to admit it, it was often also all he ever did. He did not like it, but he supposed he understood it. There was no avenue available for him to actually take action. No way for him to do anything at all. Except…

Shido looked up at one of the many TV screens inside the entrance lobby of the Diet Building. It was broadcasting news of Eiichiro Chisaka’s death…

By mental shutdown? _Aha…_

He smirked. It was true that he had nothing to do with the death of Takahiro’s boy. But perhaps…

* * *

Futaba carefully examined the shelves in front of her, full of bento boxes. Her bright orange hair flew in front of her face as she knelt down to observe the lower ones. That was where she’d find the one her mom liked the most. The Hinomaru. She smiled, thinking about how much Wakaba liked to eat it.

She always ate the umeboshi first, plucking it from the box and instantly consuming it. Futaba wasn’t certain that she even bothered to chew. Her mother was strange like that sometimes— which was good, cause Futaba was strange too.

Futaba understood that her mother’s research was important. She’d seen it… experienced it…

**_Futaba… FUTABA!_ **

Futaba shook her head. She couldn’t let that bother her now! Only thing that she could do was—

Oh. They were out of Hinomaru, it seemed. Futaba turned to the other shelves to see if anybody had incorrectly reshelved one, but it seemed this was not the case. Hmm, well, she’d just have to get a different one!

Futaba picked up another tiny box, an oekakiben which featured a bunch of tiny penguins made out of seaweed rolls. They were all cuddling together on a white ice island of rice, in a deep blue arctic sea made of… rice. Seemed like they’d just used food coloring.

It was rather cute, but quite cheap. There wasn’t really much in it but seaweed and rice, and Futaba didn’t like eating artificially colored foods. She decided to just take a picture of it. Maybe she could come up with some kind of silly way to meme it later.

But as she did so, an unfamiliar hand found its way to her left shoulder.

“Excuse me, little girl,” said a pleasant boy’s voice, “are you alright? Where’s your mother?”

Futaba slowly turned her head to see a tall young boy. He was wearing a blue sweater and had unkempt brown hair. His smile appeared full of concern, but Futaba sensed something more… sinister, somehow, behind that pretty boy’s face. He was… was… she’d seen him somewhere before.

“I-I-I…” Futaba started, struggling to find what to say. “My mom…”

“Is she not around anymore?” Goro Akechi inquired. “I’m sorry I asked. Is there any way I could help you?”

Futaba looked down at the penguin oekakiben, avoiding the stranger’s gaze, and began to slowly cry.

* * *

“Hello, Isshiki-san! I’m sorry I’m late!” Hisa Hisaya said cheerily to Wakaba as she entered the lab. “How was your date?”

“It was alright, thank you,” Wakaba replied as she worked away at her research, solving a complicated equation in her notebook. “And how are you this morning, Hisaya-san?”

“Oh, I’m feeling wonderful!” Hisaya replied, as she hung up her coat and made her way to her desk. “I had a marvelous dream last night!”

Wakaba wished she could have dreams as pleasant as Hisaya did, but between all the things she was worried about— Sojiro, Futaba, her research, the mental shutdowns —there was just too much to be anxious about. It wasn’t at all helping her sleep, and so every night she had one of those nightmares.

_“And now we turn to more on the mysterious ‘mental shutdown’ case which occurred this morning at a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Station.”_

“Oh my, another mental shutdown!” Hisaya turned up the TV volume. “That’s really scary...”

Wakaba briefly turned her head, tearing herself away from the notes she had been making to observe the news which Hisaya was watching.

_“Eiichiro Chisaka was the unassuming son of Diet member Takahiro Chisaka…”_

“What?!” Wakaba shouted, dropping everything at hand and giving her full attention to the news. “A politician’s son?”

_“Still no comment on this startling development from the Ace Detective Goro Akechi, who has been assisting the police in the investigation. He is expected to appear tomorrow at…”_

“Ohh yeah,” Hisaya realized. “Isn’t it like what you wrote in the research, Isshiki-san? The theory that if you destroy someone’s Shadow…”

“Yes,” Wakaba confirmed. “Like that… and what that Kirijo man—”

“Yes,” Hisaya agreed. “After that incident, there were hundreds of people in Port Island who got that weird ‘Apathy Syndrome…’”

“Apathy Syndrome?” Wakaba wondered. “Like— the people who suddenly lost their minds and…”

“And lost all their will to stay alive,” Hisaya confirmed. “Some people on the internet referred to them as ‘The Lost.’”

“I see…” Wakaba realized. “But that was an entire town of people. This is much more focused.”

“Yep,” Hisaya agreed. “Like someone’s intentionally making this happen to certain people. That can’t be good at all.”

Wakaba and Hisaya sat a moment, thinking on this.

“Isshiki-san?”

“Yes?”

“What are we supposed to do? To stop the mental shutdowns?”

“I don’t know,” Wakaba confessed. She turned to the table upon which she had left her notes. “I’m getting nowhere with these notes.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon!” Hisaya said eagerly. “In the meantime, how about you let me help you? We really should—”

“Excuse us for the intrusion,” said a refined and firm female voice.

Wakaba turned to see an odd pair of women standing before her. One of them appeared to be quite young, and was wearing a strange black cloak which hid most of her body. On her obscured head, Wakaba took note of strange headphone-like items resting upon the ears.

“Who are you?” Hisaya demanded. “What do you want with us?! We’re working here!”

The taller, and apparently elder, of the two wore a thick black sleeveless jacket. Through said jacket, her arms, enveloped in white silk sleeves, emerged from the armholes. Her skirt and tights were black as well, accented with red. The taller woman also possessed some red accessories— lipstick, high heels, and an armband reading **S.E.E.S.** in big capital letters.

Wakaba stared at them both apprehensively. “How… how did you get in here?”

“It wasn’t difficult,” the elder woman answered. “The company that owns this lab owes a great debt to my father.”

“Hello, Wakaba Isshiki,” the younger girl in the cloak greeted in a somewhat strange-sounding voice. “My name is Aigis. We need to ask you some questions about the cognitive world.”

* * *

It was almost time for Goro Akechi to return.

That was what Shido had told Masaji Kaneto— to alert him at once when Akechi arrived. So Kaneto was waiting at the reception desk in front of the elevator which led to Shido’s office. Soon, Akechi would emerge through those doors, and Kaneto would call Shido… and…

Waiting was boring.

Kaneto was pleased to be working with Shido. He really liked Shido’s ambition, his drive, his pure, unrelenting determination. Kaneto wanted to be like that. He wanted to be the man who would save the world. And with Shido-san, he would be. Shido had told him so many times…

_“You are the one making everything possible for me.”_

Kaneto was the one making Shido’s ambition reality. He was great. He was the great. He was going to be the greatest, the humblest assistant, the steps upwards, the standing shoulders. He was going to pave the road to Shido’s great new world.

He wondered why everyone else couldn’t see how important this was. At times, even Shido himself seemed to forget it. Isshiki, that researcher, had not recognized his significance. His charisma! And Kaneto just couldn’t understand why…

But soon, they would understand. They would all see him for who he truly was—

_Ding._

Goro Akechi?! Was it him? Kaneto fumbled for the phone.

No… this was a different man.

“Greetings,” the man said, in a low, deep voice. “I am a benefactor of Masayoshi Shido. I would like to speak with him at once.”

The supposed benefactor was abnormally tall, and wore strangely conspicuous clothing. He had donned a trenchcoat and fedora, gloves, and sunglasses which hid his face. The man looked quite like a shadowy figure from a noir film— or rather, Kaneto would have thought such, were it not for the bizarre color scheme of his outfit.

The coat was a burnt gold, had several white pockets sewn into it, and was fastened with bright gold and silver buttons. The man’s fedora was a slightly muted shade of red, with a gold ribbon tied around it. His shoes and pants bore similar shades, and the man’s getup was overall, simply… _blinding._ It hurt Kaneto’s eyes just to look at it.

“Um,” Kaneto said nervously, his anxiety at this man’s sudden appearance getting the better of him. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you are. If you would wait one moment—”

The tall gold and white man ignored Kaneto, and walked past the reception desk in the direction of Shido’s office.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“I am heading to Shido’s office,” the deep voiced man said dismissively. “It is of no great concern of yours. I mean him no harm.”

Kaneto did not like this man very much. He gave off an air of superiority. It felt like a great threat to Kaneto’s pride. And that did not feel good.

“Who are you?!”

“I have already told you the answer to that,” the benefactor said curtly. “I am a benefactor of your employer, Masayoshi Shido. Is it really so difficult for your tiny, ignorant mind to comprehend such a simple fact?”

“Wha-a-” Kaneto took great offense at the remark about his mind, and considered making a comeback. However, it occurred to him that there would be no point to doing so. It seemed that this man was quite stubborn, and nothing would deter him from intruding.

“Please do not be alarmed. I shall only be a few moments.” The man turned down the hall and began walking towards Shido’s office.

Kaneto thought about running after him, but after a moment’s consideration he instead decided that the best course of action would be to inform Shido of his unexpected guest. So he picked up the office phone and began dialing…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wondering who that guy is? Well, it might be obvious. Whatever. Next time, there will be plenty of stuff revealed about what the hell everyone's doing! I dunno. I'm feeling a bit less talkative then usual this time.
> 
> If anyone for some reason wants updates on my writing and stuff, I have a [Discord server](https://discord.gg/sDPED7a) over here which you can join to chat with me! There's no one in it at the moment besides myself, Mac, one of my friends, and a loyal reader of mine, but, who knows, maybe it'll get bigger. I dunno. It could also turn out to get really empty and boring.
> 
> I dunno if Mac's got anything to say, but if he does it'll go here:
> 
>  
> 
> _... ... ... ... ... ..._
> 
>  
> 
> Nope. It seems he's too tired to do that. See you all next time!


	3. Lifejackets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shido is visited by a mysterious man with a red hat! Meanwhile, Mitsuru and Aigis try to tell their story, but Wakaba is not interested. As Goro Akechi prepares to provide his alibi, Hisa Hisaya seeks her own answers to the mystery surrounding her. Special Guest Appearance by English!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long. And, well, _is_ so long. (9000+ words) But it went through like three or four iterations, and I tried real hard to make it good!
> 
> I've got a lot of stuff and things happening IRL, as well as just trying to ensure that the continuity makes sense to everyone throughout etc etc. So this is up now. The fourth chapter of this may not go up until Coffee and Dreams is done, or at least almost done. But idk. We'll figure it out.

Shido sat alone in his office, considering all that had happened and poring over the evidence in his hand. There was plenty enough of it to connect Goro Akechi to the Chisaka boy’s mental shutdown, even without the pre-existing knowledge he possessed about the matter. Apparently, just the other day, an appearance on television by Chisaka had been cancelled.

This was not anything worthy of note in and of itself. As a general rule, television stations seemed to give Eiichiro Chisaka the lowest of priority when scheduling their programming. As such, his appearances were cancelled quite frequently. What  _ was _ worthy of noting was that Akechi had been scheduled in his place.

Shido could only guess that in the nearly 24 hours since he had met Akechi, some sort of conflict had taken place between the two of them. And whatever the reason, Akechi had deemed Chisaka deserving of a mental shutdown.

Whatever the reason, it was quite possibly linked to one primary catalyst. Eiichiro Chisaka had pissed him off. Which meant that Akechi was not above killing anyone who displeased him. And that would mean, almost certainly, that should Shido do the same— he would be in danger as well.

Yes, that was almost certainly the case. In fact—

Yes!

Yes, that was who Goro Akechi reminded Shido of. Fumiko Akechi. That woman who he’d disposed of all those years ago, after their brief fling together. But Shido had never heard anything of… No, of course. It would stand to reason that the boy was his son. It had to be that. His illegitimate child. If that got out, it would almost certainly be a huge scandal.

All the more reason to ensure that he was properly dealt with.

But what would be the best way to do that? Could he be useful? Was it certain that there was no alternative by which Shido could otherwise attain power?

As he thought through all of this, the phone rang. Shido swiftly picked it up. “Hello?”

_ “Shido-san!” _ Kaneto’s voice said on the other end.  _ “Someone is _ —”

“Is it Goro Akechi?”

_ “No! He seems to be running late, but _ —”

“You may tell them I am not interested.”

_ “I tried, sir, but they disregarded me! They walked right past me and are coming to your office right now! They claim to be a benefactor of yours _ —”

“A pleasure to meet you at long last, Shido Masayoshi.”

Shido hung up the phone and looked up at the intruder.

It was a tall man in a long burnt gold trenchcoat. His face was hidden with a red hat and a pair of sunglasses. He had quite an imposing presence— it was arguably even more imposing than Shido’s own presence.

“How may I help you?” Shido inquired, his voice tingling with suspicion and a touch of hostility.

“I am one of your greatest benefactors,” the man’s deep voice asserted. “No— not just one. Perhaps I am your one greatest benefactor of them all. I know of the dilemma which you are currently struggling with, and seek to guide you in whatever way possible.”

* * *

“I’m sorry,” the brown-haired boy said apologetically, “did I do something wrong? Oh, that’s right, I haven’t introduced myself! Forgive me.” He extended his hand to Futaba, still giving her a smile. “My name is Goro Akechi.”

Futaba did not respond to Akechi, dropping the oekakiben and curling up into a tiny ball. She continued weeping into her arms, still afraid of the stranger she had encountered.

“Come now,” Akechi said, kneeling down in an attempt to meet her eyes. “Don’t be like that. I don’t bite!”

Futaba nervously stopped crying and looked up at Akechi.

He chuckled a little, smiling again, and, again, offered his hand.

“How about I help you find your guardian?”

To Akechi’s surprise, Futaba did not take his hand, but instead glared at him. He recoiled, and withdrew his hand.

“My mom told me not to talk to strangers like you,” Futaba informed Akechi through gritted teeth. “This is how little girls like me disappear off the streets every day!”

“Uh-” Akechi was very taken aback. She didn’t recognize him? He supposed that he hadn’t been famous for very long…

“Excuse me,” a man’s voice said, “what’s going on here?”

Akechi turned to see who had spoken, a tall, handsome-looking man in a white blazer with glasses and a hat over his black hair. A small, neatly trimmed goatee was growing on his chin.

“Are you responsible for this child?” Akechi inquired.

Futaba slightly uncurled out of her hermit shell position, and looked up at the person who had intervened. Seeing who it was, she looked relieved. “Sojiro!”

“Futaba!” Sojiro walked over to her. “What are you doing here? Where’s Wakaba?”

Futaba picked up the oekakiben box, and shook her head as she stepped behind Sojiro, glaring again at the boy before looking up to reply. “Mom sent me to the store for some bento, and that creepy guy started talking to me!”

Akechi reacted to this with a nervous chuckle. “Uh-hh-I- Me? Creepy? I was only trying to help… ha…”

“Hey, buddy,” Sojiro told Akechi. “You should really stay out of other people’s business.”

“I-I’m sorry for causing trouble…” Akechi shook his head. “I just happened to see her while I was looking for something to buy for lunch— I-I was only trying to help her find her mother.”

“Well, thanks— but no thanks.” Sojiro regarded Akechi with much animosity, giving him a rather distrusting look. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Ri-ight! My apologies…” Akechi checked his watch. “Goodness me, look at the time! I’ve got an important appointment to attend to… I’ll be off!” He turned and swiftly left the store without buying anything for lunch.

“Come on, Futaba. I’ll pay for the bento.” Sojiro took Futaba’s hand, and the two of them began moving towards the checkout counter.

* * *

“Questions?” Wakaba wondered. “Is that so— Aigis-san, was it? Who the hell do you think you are, just walking in here?”

“The incidents you were talking about at Port Island,” the strange cloaked girl called Aigis said. “We were there.”

“You were?” Wakaba was rather skeptical.

“Correct,” the red-haired woman followed up. “Those cases of Apathy Syndrome originated in a cognitive phenomenon known as the Dark Hour. It was I, Aigis, and several others who took it upon ourselves to eliminate the Shadows causing these cases.”

Hisa Hisaya looked at the two of them in surprise, as her eyes widened in amazement. “You really fought Shadows?! How’d you do it?”

“We did so with the power of Personas,” Aigis answered, her face cold and stoic-looking. “These were our other faces which manifested from within our hearts as other beings to fight in our stead. Using these Personas, we were able to defeat the final Shadow, Nyx— the personification of Death brought about by the cognition of humanity, and harbinger of The Fall—”

“Stop right there,” Wakaba interrupted, holding up a hand. “Setting aside this ‘defeating Death’ thing, you still haven’t told me you who you are!”

“Right,” the red-haired woman said. “Apologies for not introducing myself properly. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo—”

“Kirijo?!… I see.” Wakaba looked furious. “So I’m being harassed by the Kirijo Group now? And you’re the ones who sent that idiot to interrupt my date?!”

Mitsuru was speechless at this.

“So you came because you wanted to see how I’d expanded upon your grandfather’s research and buy my services?!” Wakaba looked Mitsuru right in the eye, and shouted, “Well, I suggest you see yourself right out the door, because you can’t have my work! I won’t let you people exploit my research for your own shady purposes!”

“That was not our intention,” Aigis interrupted, standing in front of Mitsuru. “We apologize if we bothered you. All we came to do was to help you, Isshiki-san. Our goals are not dissimilar.”

“I don’t believe you!” Wakaba yelled. “Get out, or I’ll force you out!”

“But—” Aigis began, but Mitsuru placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s do as she says, Aigis. It’s no use. She’s not going to listen to us.”

Aigis nodded reluctantly, and the two of them turned away and left. As they did so, Aigis turned back to face Hisaya.

“I can’t put my finger on who it is exactly,” Aigis remarked, “but you remind me of someone.”

As the two young women disappeared from sight, Hisa Hisaya’s face took on a deep blend of curiosity and doubt.

“Someone…”

* * *

Shido dropped the papers he was holding and made eye contact with the man— or rather, the closest thing to eye contact that could be made. He saw no hint of any eyes behind those shades. It was quite a peculiar sight— it almost looked as if there was no man inside of the coat at all.

And perhaps there wasn’t.

“Very well, I shall grant you an audience.” Shido sat up straighter in his chair, and adjusted his suit slightly. “What do you have to offer?”

“The child, Goro Akechi,” the man started. “I can tell you, you are not incorrect in your thinking. In fact, he has made his proposal with the express intention of doing you harm.”

“If that is the case,” Shido wondered, “why has he not attacked me already?”

“Because of the connection between the two of you.”

“So that brat is truly related to me?”

“Quite so,” the man confirmed. “He wishes for you to accept him as such. Once he has accomplished this goal, he will attempt to destroy all that you have worked to build. I would not be surprised if he subsequently terminated you as well.”

“In that case, should I turn him down?”

“No. If you do that, he will only search for another avenue by which to achieve his goal.”

“What am I supposed to do then?!” Shido shouted in frustration. “Either way, he’ll end up ruining me! What I do won’t matter!”

“Calm yourself,” the mysterious man said. “I have just told you, his goal is to gain your acceptance. What do you think you ought to do then?”

Shido stared blankly, unsure how to respond to this query.

In the absence of a response, the man answered his own question. “It is natural to assume, in this case, that you do not give Goro Akechi that satisfaction of being accepted.”

_ “ARE YOU A FOOL?!” _ Shido screamed. “If I refuse to acknowledge him as my son, he’ll kill me!”

To Shido’s surprise, the man laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed…

“Hahaha, no,” he replied, and Shido could have sworn he looked as if he were smiling, somehow, beneath that jacket. “No, it is you who is the fool, Masayoshi Shido. But that is good. You are truly an entertaining being. Observing your path to power shall be… intriguing.”

Shido gaped at the man, astonished that he had the audacity to say such nonsense. Entertaining being? Path to power? “If I didn’t know better… I’d say you aren’t a man!”

The one in the coat laughed even harder. “Ha, you do not cease to prove of interest. As it happens, I am indeed not a man. At least not in the traditional sense. You could say that I am a… A Holy Man, of sorts.”

“What do you mean, ‘Holy?’” Shido asked, rather skeptically. He was finding it a little difficult to take this guy seriously.

The self-proclaimed ‘Holy Man’ slowed his laugh to a chuckle, as Shido continued to regard him with confusion. “It is difficult to explain… but I am what you and other humans might refer to as ‘the Holy Grail.’”

* * *

Sojiro handed over some yen to the cashier, who printed a receipt and handed it over to him. “Thanks for your business, sir! I hope you and your daughter have a good day!”

“Oh, she’s not my daughter,” Sojiro replied. “She’s my… friend’s, daughter.”

“Oh, I see!” the cashier said in a cool voice. “Well, whatever the case—”

“Thanks, Sojiro. I’ll see you later.” Futaba took the bento and made to leave, but he took her hand.

“Come on, Futaba, I’ll take you home.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Sojiro led Futaba outside. “Please come again soon!” the cashier called out at them as they left.

“Do you want to stay for dinner with me and Mom?” Futaba asked, as they made their way across the street to Sojiro’s car.

Sojiro looked a little uneasy. “Well… Um…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Er… I think that…”

“Did something happen? Between you and Mom?”

Sojiro nervously chuckled. “Uh, nothing in particular, Futaba. Why don’t we get going?” Futaba’s hand still in his, he made haste towards the other side of the street.

The uneasy tension in the air, left over from Futaba’s question about Wakaba, was somewhat tangible. However, it quickly faded away when the two of them got in Sojiro’s car.

“Sojiro,” Futaba asked excitedly, “do you think maybe you could take me somewhere fun sometime?”

“Like where?” Sojiro adjusted the rear view mirror so he could see Futaba’s face. 

“I don’t know! Just… somewhere fun! Like Akihabara!”

“Hmm, I don’t know, Futaba.” Sojiro thought for a moment. “Are you sure your mother will be okay with that?”

“It’d be fine, right? She’s known you a long time!” Futaba smiled knowingly. “You love Mom, don’t you?”

At this, Sojiro grew quiet. He looked away from the mirror, and faced towards the road. There was silence for a moment, and it seemed like Futaba wanted to say something.

After another moment, he broke the silence.

“So, what are you into these days? Still watching that Phoenix show? What was it called again…”

“Phoenix Ranger Featherman Victory!” Futaba reminded him cheerily. “Yeah! Although, I think they went a little bit of a weird direction with the most recent episodes. And that actress, Yukari Takeba, she has an interesting take on Feather Pink. But I think the manga was better, because…”

Sojiro smiled and laughed, patiently listening as Futaba rattled on and on about Phoenix Ranger.

* * *

Wakaba was quiet, still fuming at the two’s interruption of her work. With a small huff, she dismissed her anger and continued writing and solving her equation. She couldn’t be sure, but if she got a working solution to this, she might be able to get…

“You should have thought more carefully about that, Isshiki-san,” Hisaya said, quite thoughtfully, breaking a long silence which had been in place since Mitsuru and Aigis had left. “They seemed quite sincere. It could be that they were telling the truth.”

This was surprising. Hisaya hardly ever spoke of matters seriously. She was so often more focused on the more wonderful and “cool” aspects of science.

“I strongly doubt that,” Wakaba replied, as she scribbled another few numbers. “I am not interested in placing my trust in the heir to one of Japan’s most powerful conglomerates. Aristocrats such as those are well-known to be conducting shady business.”

“But they saved the world from Death!” Hisaya insisted. “That sounded too cool to not be true! Surely they meant—”

_ “No, _ Hisaya-san.” Wakaba stopped writing and turned to her colleague with a firm, insistent glare on her face. “You’re letting yourself get taken with a fantasy again. That was probably a story they cooked up to deceive us!”

“Then…” Hisaya slowed her voice, somewhat hurt by Wakaba’s fantasy remark. “How would they find out about cognitive psience, if their story about having Personas wasn’t real?!”

“Because…” Wakaba gritted her teeth. “My research data was stolen!”

Now, it was Hisaya who was quiet.

“Wakaba…”

“Her grandfather was researching Shadows as well,” Wakaba told her, her face cold. “Kouetsu Kirijo. He was a madman, obsessed with the end of the world… and I think I know what that woman is after.” She took off her glasses and looked Hisaya straight in the eye. “I think she wants to finish what her grandfather started.”

“Wakaba. She didn’t seem like she would want that…”

“And why do you think that?”

“I… I don’t know,” Hisaya looked at the floor. “But… she had the eyes of someone who wanted to save the world.”

Wakaba narrowed her eyes at Hisaya. “So you trust her just because you might have seen some feeling in her eyes.”

“No, not just that,” Hisaya answered, seeming a little sad. “Not just that… what’s more is that I’ve seen those eyes before. My mother had those eyes.”

Turning away from Hisaya and replacing her glasses, Wakaba returned to her work.

“Before the incident. Before the… before the Shadows killed her.”

Wakaba didn’t utter a word.

Hisaya began to dry her face, repressing her tears. “If she’s trying to stop something like that from happening again, I want to help her!”

“No. I don’t want to take any chances,” Wakaba affirmed, her voice carrying a tone of deep finality. “I can’t, Hisa. You’re in danger, too.”

Hisa Hisaya raked her hand nervously through her messy blue hair.

She and Wakaba rarely called each other by their given names. It was quite clear that this was a serious situation.

Wakaba’s research had been stolen? But why… why would she…

Hisaya thought back to the day her mother had come home. After the experiment had failed. Her eyes… determined.

Determined, to prevent the coming of that horrific event, known only as…  _ The Fall. _

Wakaba was right. The person she had named, Kouetsu Kirijo— Mitsuru Kirijo’s grandfather —was indeed the one responsible for the grief that had been caused on that day. That demented man who had spoken such nonsense about death as delivering the world from ruin. But, his own failings were no reason to condemn his kin.

She looked up at the TV.

_ “And now onto the regular news. Goro Akechi, the Successor to the Detective Prince Naoto Shirogane, will later this afternoon be making an appearance to discuss the surprise of Eiichiro Chisaka’s…” _

Hisa turned and left Wakaba to her work. She wasn’t doing anything but solving math problems anyway. It wasn’t going to be of any use.

There were more important people, who needed to be given the time of day— before it was too late.

* * *

“What do we do now, Mitsuru-senpai?” Aigis asked as the two of them got back into the van borrowed from the Kirijo Group and started to head back to the hotel from which they had come.

“We’ll have to prove our story to Isshiki somehow,” Mitsuru reasoned. “If we can do that, she may allow us to help her.”

“And what if we cannot accomplish that?”

Mitsuru sat down and started up the car. “I’m not sure. But it’s imperative that we keep her safe. If it comes to it, we may have to use force.”

“Do you mean— kidnapping?” Aigis looked uncomfortable with the thought.

Mitsuru thought this over for a moment. “I suppose I do. Yes, if all our other options are exhausted, holding Isshiki against her will may be our last resort.”

Aigis was quiet for a moment.

“I do not approve of that course of action.”

“Neither do I,” Mitsuru agreed, “but considering who we are up against, it may be the only way. I would much prefer that we abduct her, than her being slain by the culprit.”

“I suppose it shall have to be considered,” Aigis decided. “But we should first do whatever else we can before taking that path. There are still other ways.”

“That is true.” Mitsuru began driving away. “Do you have anything particular in mind?”

“One idea in particular,” Aigis replied, “although we shall have to wait till evening to attempt it. In the meantime, we should use the clues we have to search for the culprit.”

Mitsuru nodded in agreement as she faced the road ahead of them. “Have you thought of perhaps asking that detective?”

“Detective… oh, Goro Akechi?” Aigis thought for a moment. “I suppose I had not quite thought of that. Come to think of it, he is making a television appearance later in the afternoon. Perhaps we should attempt to meet with him.”

“I too think that is a good idea. It shouldn’t be too challenging to enter the TV station and catch him when he’s off the air.” Mitsuru spun the wheel around, making a hard left.

“What are you doing, Mitsuru-senpai?”

“Making a detour,” Mitsuru said matter-of-factly. “We’re going to need to change some clothes.”

* * *

Goro Akechi walked down the street, doing his best to keep a low profile so that he was not recognized by passerby.

What a peculiar girl that had been, back at the bento shelves in the convenience store. He had only been there to buy a snack before meeting Shido, and seen the girl, looking quite lonely. As difficult as some may have found it to believe, he sympathized with her situation quite a bit. Lost and without parents.

Though it was true that he had perhaps jumped to conclusions, Akechi’s only intention had been to help her. All he’d wanted to do was be nice.

He supposed he wasn’t very good at that. Everyone seemed to see through his amiable persona when talking to him individually, in non-professional contexts. Everyone who enjoyed him on TV took his showy temperament for granted, because, he looked better on TV.

But for now, that wasn’t what mattered.

He walked to Shido’s office ever so casually, extremely pleased with himself. Due to all the energy he had exerted in the Metaverse eliminating Chisaka Eiichiro the previous evening, he had been extremely tired out and therefore slept for most of the day. But it had all been worth it. He’d woken up to find Chisaka out of the way, and just in time to make his way to Shido’s office.

Akechi had claimed himself a hero when he had defeated Chisaka’s Shadow in Mementos. But in reality, he didn’t feel much like a hero. He had only said that to spite Chisaka. A hero was a great person who worked for the good of others, but Akechi’s motives were purely selfish ones. He was not a hero. Just a single person who had taken it upon himself to rid society of evil, purely for his own benefit.

Then again, Akechi supposed that this rotten society had no heroes. At least, not any active ones. Taking this into account, it could be that he was the closest thing to a hero in existence. Thus, he might be the only chance for Tokyo to change for the better. As close to better as it could possibly get.

Ha. That was hopeful thinking. But it was certainly a pleasant line of thought to entertain, wasn’t it?

If Akechi was some sort of hero, it would be reasonable to believe that Shido was the villain. So were all the other evil adults. And he was going to defeat all of them. All the villains. This cancer of terrible adults which plagued Tokyo. He was going to cure it, starting with Masayoshi Shido. No longer had he any time to waste on small fry like his abusive wards at previous foster homes, or spoiled brats such as Eiichiro Chisaka.

It was a very pleasant line of thought indeed.

Thinking all of this, Akechi walked up the stairs to the tall office building in which Shido’s office was to be found. Soon, Masayoshi Shido would be within his reach, and no one, not even a god, could stop him.

* * *

“Holy… Grail?” Shido scoffed derisively. “What a ridiculous moniker to be known by!”

“If it appeals to your particular tastes more, you may consider me as God,” the Grail suggested.

“God?” Now, it was Shido’s turn to laugh. “If that is so, demonstrate your godly powers to me!”

“I am afraid that I cannot do such a thing,” God informed him. “If I were to unleash my power within this room, my heavenly glory would overflow your diminutive, limited human senses, and you would go insane as your tiny little brain struggled to comprehend it.”

“Diminutive senses? Tiny little brain?!” Shido growled, now angered. “I will not tolerate such insults!” He leaped out of his chair, and threw a punch at the God man.

Shido’s fist collided with the man’s shades, which, amazingly, did not break. Instead, his knuckles began to sting like the dickens, and he winced. The man laughed more and more, his amusement growing deeper and deeper. Meanwhile, the pain in Shido’s fist grew deeper as well.

“How amusing,” the God man remarked. “Though that was a poor choice of action, your spirit is to be appreciated.”

“What… what did you… do to me??” Shido screamed, clutching his hand, which felt as if it were burning. “What in the world are you?!”

“I have already told you,” the God said haughtily, “I am the Holy Grail. You cannot harm me.” He turned away and began to exit. “The Akechi boy is arriving soon. I strongly suggest that you accept his offer.”

“B-bu-but-” Shido stammered, not believing this man’s attitude.

“Do not worry. I shall return at a later date to elaborate on how to properly manipulate him towards your own ends.” He turned back around, and there was another twinkle from the peculiar area beneath those shades and red fedora, in which Shido could only imagine there were some manner of eyes. “As I said, you are a fool… but you are a truly great fool. I have high expectations for you. This is why I have sent Goro Akechi your way.”

“You sent the boy who probably wants to kill me my way? To use him?!” Shido cried indignantly. “How can I ever use someone like that?”

Yet again, the God man laughed.

“Masayoshi Shido,” he said, still ever so amused. “Have you ever cut yourself with a pair of scissors?”

“I… suppose,” Shido admitted, “once or twice…”

“Did it ever occur to you, that in this ‘once or twice,’ perhaps the pair of scissors wanted to kill you?”

Shido said nothing.

“Think of Goro Akechi as a pair of scissors. Aim him away from your body, and you shall be fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

The God man turned and exited. Shido carefully considered all that he had said, and all that he had concluded this morning.

Yes, Goro Akechi hoped to trap him. That much was quite clear, even without information from the God. But this was not something to be afraid of.

What had Shido been thinking? That he was in danger from a mere child? What a joke! This was one very smart and resourceful child, for sure, but at the end of the day, Akechi was naught but a brat, and Shido was a powerful, ambitious adult. It would be easy to manipulate him into doing his bidding.

Knowing this, he smiled a cold, cunning smile.

* * *

“And that’s why I think they should have set the story on the moon, instead of that weird alternate dimension!” Futaba finally finished. “I wonder why they did that, especially since they kept it in the older version of the show. And the moon being colonized by trash monsters was really important later on, so I wonder how they’ll make up for that. I don’t know, maybe it’ll be all good in the end!”

“I hope so,” Sojiro chuckled. He hadn’t really had any clue what Futaba had been talking about, but he was glad that she seemed happy. “Does your friend like Phoenix Ranger too?”

Futaba’s enthusiastic temperament gave way to a confused look.

“What? W-Which friend?”

“That girl you couldn’t stop talking about last time I saw you,” Sojiro reminded her, smiling. “Wasn’t her name Kana?”

Futaba’s face fell… “K-K-Kana-chan? She…”

She grew very quiet. Sojiro’s expression shifted from one of affection, to that of great concern.

“Are things okay between you and her?”

_ Kana-chan… if only I could have helped you! _

“Y-Yeah!” Futaba lied, nervously averting her gaze from the rear-view mirror. She fixed her eyes downwards, focusing on her feet for no particular reason. “She’s… she’s doing great!”

Sojiro narrowed his eyes.

He scared Futaba sometimes, the way he could tell if something was wrong. If Futaba were lying, or dodging his questions, Sojiro always seemed to be able to tell. He didn’t usually press the issue, but his intuitive nature always made her quite anxious. Sojiro was very kind to her, and he’d always been so, but she rarely ever saw him. So when she did, it was often freshly unnerving.

Come to think of it, she rarely ever saw any of her relatives or family friends. Her mother seemed to be particularly aversive of her uncle, Youji. She was often on the phone with him, yelling at him for some reason. Something about gambling. Futaba could only suppose that he’d gotten himself into a financial hole of some sort which he wanted Wakaba to dig him out of, though she didn’t really know what kind it was.

Youji was always nice to Futaba when they met, which wasn’t very often. Wakaba seemed quite set on keeping them apart, concerned that he might deceive her somehow. Futaba wasn’t a fool, though. She could tell when someone wasn’t being genuine.

_ If I were with Uncle Youji, _ thought Futaba,  _ I might become like Kana… _

Her train of thought was lost within moments. Taking note of the silence which had just then resurfaced, Futaba decided to break it again.

“Sojiro?”

“Yeah?” He seemed to have forgotten about Kana.

“How are things with you and Mom?”

Sojiro looked startled by this question, and said nothing. This, however, only served to further incite Futaba’s curiosity.

“Did you propose to her?”

Nothing.

“Futaba…”

He looked a bit unsure of how to respond to this.

“Your mother and I are fine,” Sojiro finally concluded, after a moment. “I need to focus on driving.”

Futaba was certain… something had happened.

“Oh.”

The silence returned once more, and remained unbroken the rest of the way home.

* * *

“Greetings,” Akechi said pleasantly as he entered Shido’s office. “Have you considered my offer, Shido-san?”

For some reason, Shido was wearing a rather smug smile. Although Akechi wasn’t certain why this was, he couldn’t wait till it was within his power to wipe it right off his face.

“I have.” Shido reached for a small folder of papers and placed it upon his desk. “And I have decided to accept.”

Akechi bowed graciously. “Thank you, Shido-san. I will do my very best to serve your cause.”

“I would hope so,” Shido agreed, his voice cold yet proud. “However, I have a few small suggestions to offer. You have proven yourself very worthy in causing mental shutdowns and making a name for yourself by your own merits. It is undeniable that that is a most impressive feat. But you have much to learn.”

Akechi looked at Shido, surprised by this assertion. “How do you mean?”

“Eiichiro Chisaka. Does that name ring a bell?”

“Not particularly,” Akechi replied, smirking with the air of a daring hero about him. “I believe he may have been mentioned as being famous once or twice, but I’ve never found him worthy of note.”

“Do not misunderstand me,” Shido said with a stern glare. At this, Akechi’s confident smirk vanished. “This is no joke. Please take this seriously.”

Akechi frowned and simply bowed his head in understanding.

“This Chisaka boy was removed from the schedule of the television station in favor of your own appearance,” Shido noted. “The very next day, he died in a police station, claiming he knew the identity of the culprit. And you have been talking about the mental shutdowns as an Ace Detective, from the first day they began occurring. Do you understand what the problem is here?”

“There was no evidence,” Akechi pointed out. “No basis upon which to—”

“It was enough to draw suspicion!” Shido insisted. “Even without my pre-existing knowledge of your involvement, I did not find it difficult to connect the dots. The only reason why no one else has come to these conclusions is because your public illusion has not yet been shattered.”

Akechi grimaced. He had to admit that Shido had a point.

“Very well. How do you suggest I adjust my strategy?”

“I’m glad you asked.” The smile on Shido’s face grew even wider. “I have been looking into cognitive psience, and will teach you some of what I have discovered. More about mental shutdowns, and how you might use them more effectively to our advantage. Working with me, you shall become more efficient… more powerful… and above all, more useful.”

“I see,” Akechi said, smiling with false enthusiasm. “How shall we start?”

“You have an upcoming television appearance this afternoon, correct? And you will give your take on Eiichiro Chisaka’s mental shutdown case?”

Akechi nodded, confirming this fact. “In fact, I am due within the coming hour. I can’t stay too long.”

“In that case, make haste in memorizing this.”

“Come again?”

Shido took out a small stack of papers and held it out to Akechi. “Kaneto and I have prepared this script for you. You will follow it to the letter, and answer any questions in the manner which it has outlined.”

Akechi looked quite irritated. “Shido-san,” he began, “with all due respect, I would prefer that—”

His protest was halted, as Shido gave him a threatening stare.

“This is intended to dispel any potential suspicion of you as the culprit of the case,” Shido informed him. “Would you prefer to instead suffer the consequences?”

Akechi looked rather furious at being commanded in such a manner, but, coldly taking a breath, he took the papers and began to read.

Shido smiled, pleased with this begrudging obedience. “Good. Now don’t ask any more questions, and you’ll be very useful to me. Once you have done as I asked, report back to me at once.”

* * *

“Why are we wearing these clothes, Mitsuru-senpai?” Aigis asked from the backseat of the van, where she had relocated to give Mitsuru space to change.

“We can’t be seen as ourselves,” Mitsuru explained, as she slipped her new shirt over her head. “I’ll attract far too much attention, being who I am, and that cloak of yours will stand out in a crowd. We’ll have to hide your mechanical nature with subtler methods.”

“I see.” Aigis seemed to understand.

“How good is your English?” Mitsuru inquired.

“I only have experience speaking the Japanese language,” Aigis answered. “However, I can within minutes adapt to flawlessly speaking another language without trouble. Why is this a significant factor?”

“We’ll need to, to maintain our cover,” Mitsuru informed her.

“Cover?”

“Yes— there are many important people in the TV station who will be watching Akechi’s appearance. if someone of significance to the mental shutdowns happens to be listening, we can’t have them overhearing our identities and guessing our intentions. That would simply not do.”

_ “I understand.” _ Aigis spoke in English this time.

“Hold on now,” Mitsuru told her, still maintaining her Japanese dialect. “We don’t need to switch languages just yet.”

“Right.” Aigis switched back to Japanese and began changing clothes.

Mitsuru, meanwhile, restyled her hair and put on some particularly flashy lipstick. Within moments, the two of them exited the van, wearing rather subtly flashy clothes. Aigis had jeans and a t-shirt bearing a myriad of colors and many English words. Mitsuru, meanwhile, was wearing a black American designer name suit, and her hair was done up in a neat, professional-looking bun.

“Make sure your English is spoken badly,” Mitsuru instructed Aigis.

“Understood.”

As they entered the TV station, Mitsuru took another look at Aigis’ shirt. The most prominent words on it read in English:  _ GOOD FOOD ARE GREAT IN A POTATOS _ . She had herself another chuckle at the broken nonsense inscribed on it. “That attire looks quite ridiculous on you, Aigis.”

Aigis looked confused by this statement. “Did you not pick it for me to wear?”

“No, I did,” Mitsuru answered, “it’s just very silly.”

The nearly-human girl narrowed her eyes in reaction to this, but seemed to deem it unimportant and did not question it further.

* * *

Wakaba turned around to look at Hisaya, who she presumed had—

Oh. Hisaya had left. Come to think of it, she hadn’t been seen or heard since they had disputed over Mitsuru Kirijo and that strange Aigis girl. Wakaba hoped she hadn’t left to try and talk to them herself. It wouldn’t be good if Hisaya spilled all the beans about her research.

In any case, it was about time for her to go home. Futaba was surely waiting, hopefully with dinner in her hands. So with that, Wakaba put away her work, and left the lab for the day.

* * *

As Futaba sat in the back of the car, she remembered her mother’s promise list. Taking it out and looking it over, she reviewed the objectives carefully. After a moment, she crossed out getting bento from the store. Granted, she’d had help, but it was certainly better than not having done it at all.

Another objective caught her eye soon after— the one that said “meet someone new.”

Futaba knew full well that her mother had meant “meeting” in a friendly context. But she also knew that this context had not been spelled out in the criteria given by the list. So couldn’t meeting that weird brown-haired guy qualify? He was a new person, after all, and she had indeed met him.

And so, smiling cheekily, Futaba crossed off that item and folded up the list.

Surely, Futaba would be able to make good on her promises within the next week or two, and then her mom would finally tear herself away from work to spend time with her. Hopefully, nothing would happen to interfere in between.

“Hey, Futaba. We’re almost home. Geez, traffic was a mess…”

Futaba looked out the window, and saw the familiar apartment building where she and her mother lived a few streets away. “Alright, Sojiro! Do you want to stay for dinner?”

Sojiro seemed to react uncomfortably to this suggestion. “Well, Futaba, I think it might be…”

“Oh, that’s right.” Futaba nodded in understanding. “Something happened with you and Mom.”

Sojiro was quiet and contemplative for a moment before answering.

“… Yeah.”

“It’s okay,” Futaba promised, earnestly. “Whatever it was, I won’t tell that I heard about it, Sojiro. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Sojiro gave his friend’s daughter a grateful smile. “Thank you, Futaba.” He then turned his eyes back to the road, and drove onwards.

After a few moments of driving around, he pulled up to the front of the Isshikis’ apartment. There, he saw a woman with black hair and glasses…

“Oh.”

Wakaba Isshiki turned around at the sound of the car, and, seeing it, appeared equal parts surprised and curious.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Futaba told Sojiro. The car stopped, and the tiny bespectacled girl got out and ran towards her mother.

* * *

“Eiichiro Chisaka’s mental shutdown was a great misfortune,” Akechi told the news anchor, in a slow, calculated tone, “and my most sincere condolences go out to him and his family.”

“‘Him and his family?” Aigis whispered, puzzled. “I do not understand how one could offer condolences to the deceased.”

“Why do you think he was killed, Akechi-kun?” inquired the newsman.

“Some have claimed that the motive to gain a political upper hand over his father,” Akechi recalled, “however, this does not align with the pattern— or rather, the lack of one —seen in the prior mental shutdown attacks. There has never been any concentration on politically relevant persons. There is nothing connecting these incidents. It’s likely that the culprit, if one exists, is only trying to breed chaos, or is simply insane.”

Akechi continued talking on and on, while Mitsuru and Aigis observed the scene from within the studio audience.

“I do not like Akechi-kun,” Aigis whispered. “He seems dangerous.”

“What makes you think that?” Mitsuru asked. “Is he dangerous in the same way Ryoji was dangerous?”

“No,” Aigis clarified, “this is more of a ‘hunch’ that I have. He does not seem to harbor anything abnormal inside him as Ryoji-kun did. But I do not feel that we can trust him.”

“Thank you so much for your time, Akechi-kun!” the announcer said, and Aigis immediately ceased talking. She and Mitsuru stood up, and followed after him.

_ “Hello, Mr. Akechi!” _ Mitsuru said in English, drawing Akechi’s attention.

He gave her an odd look, not seeming to understand. “Come again?”

_ “My name is Margaret Kennedy,” _ Mitsuru finished, before switching to Japanese, “I’m a prestigious American professor who’s come to Japan to teach English to the young folks here. This is one of my students, Akiko.”

_ “It was are much nice to meet your, Akechi-sir. A pleasure is been mine.” _

Mitsuru regarded Aigis strangely for a moment. While she had muddled her English as directed, she spoke with a perfect neutral English accent, and her pronunciation was impeccable. She did not sound like a beginning English student at all.

However, Akechi did not seem to notice this at all. He nodded, looking quite delighted. “I see. I must offer my apologies, then, Marg— er, Kennedy-san! My English is not particularly good.”

“It is not a problem,” Mitsuru assured him, curtsying politely. “And do not worry, Mr. Akechi. You may call me Margaret.”

“Ah, very well then, Margaret!” Akechi smiled pleasantly. “And might I say, I am very much impressed to hear someone speak English so flawlessly!”

“Thank you very much for the compliment,” Aigis said, smiling proudly as she changed her speech pattern back to Japanese as well.

“Oh, no! I was referring to your sensei.” Akechi turned to Mitsuru. “To what do I owe this lovely interruption?”

Aigis pretended to look disappointed.

“We were hoping we could hear straight from you about the mental shutdowns,” Mitsuru claimed. “Akiko here is writing a paper about them for a current events assignment. It occured to us that you would know quite a lot about them, since you’re in charge of investigating them. So we thought we might as well ask you personally!”

A shade of surprise showed in Akechi’s deep brown eyes, but quickly faded as he composed himself. “Well,” he started, quite apologetically, “I’m afraid that—”

“Oh, and might I add, Mr. Akechi,” Mitsuru went on, beaming at him, “it is extremely impressive that you’re such a great Ace Detective, at such a young age! Akiko is aspiring to a law enforcement position herself. What might you be able to tell us about how you got this job?”

Akechi looked even more taken aback by that question, and suddenly, his stomach growled.

“My,” he remarked, “I seem to have forgotten to eat today! I’d best be off!”

He rushed away from them hastily. Mitsuru and Aigis eyed his back as he vanished into the crowd.

“I must agree with your initial assessment,” Mitsuru commented quietly. “It would appear Akechi-kun is not as he seems.”

Aigis bowed her head. “Yes. However, I believe you conducted an effective performance as my sensei. I have good faith that the suspicion is not mutual.”

Mitsuru said nothing. She wasn’t so sure.

* * *

Akechi made great haste in putting distance between himself and that supposed American woman. What on Earth was her objective? He was fairly certain that it was not to help that odd girl complete her homework. There was far too much intention behind her words. And what was with the way her student spoke English? That Akiko girl's grammar was botched, but she spoke the words themselves very well. Far too well for someone who was only just beginning to learn.

Well, no matter. They had nothing on him. No reason to suspect him of anything whatsoever. There was no need to worry. However, what he did need to worry about was getting some food in his stomach. He’d gotten so caught up in his encounter with that girl at the convenience store, that he’d forgotten to buy food as he had originally intended. How foolish…

Akechi made his way to a small vendor in the TV station serving some rather expensive snacks. The goods cost quite a lot of yen, and would eat up a significant portion of his allowance from his caretakers. But Akechi was very hungry, and it was paramount that he—

_ Bzzz _

It was not his stomach that growled now, but his cell phone, whose service had just been restored that morning after the overdue bill had finally been paid. But he hadn’t told anyone that. Who was it calling him now?

The screen read  _ 獅童 正義 _

Shido?! How did he get Akechi’s phone number?? Well, whatever… surely leaving him hanging was not a good idea. So Akechi answered the call.

“Yes, Shido-san?”

_ “What is taking you so long?! You were supposed to report back to me at once!” _

Akechi sighed. “Right. I just need to—”

_ “No excuses!” _ shouted Shido’s voice over the phone.  _ “Get over here right away, and don’t make any stops!” _

Akechi sighed in exasperation and hung up. Shido was an extremely impatient employer. He reluctantly turned away from the food stand and began to exit the TV station. As he did so, he happened to bump into a small woman with ratty blue hair.

“Oh!” Akechi yelped in surprise, moving out of the woman’s way. “My apologies! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t looking where I was going either— Oh! Are you Goro Akechi? The Ace Detective?”

“Um, yes I am,” Akechi told her, “but I’m in quite a hurry… Please excuse me!” He rushed outside and disappeared not long after.

“Oh…” Hisa Hisaya looked disappointed. “I suppose I arrived too late.”

* * *

“So, I also did another promise on the list!” Futaba declared energetically, showing it to Wakaba, who smiled proudly.

“So you did?” Wakaba looked it over. “Who’d you meet?”

“Some weird guy who was trying to talk to me today,” Futaba recounted, pleased with herself. “I’d never met him before, so he was new!”

Wakaba narrowed her eyes with playful suspicion. “Is that so? You got his name and everything?”

“What? No, I don’t know his name…”

“Then you haven’t really met him!” Wakaba told Futaba, laughing. “You need to go back and ask him for his name or else you didn’t keep the promise!”

Futaba looked disappointed. “But…”

“Just kidding,” Wakaba giggled, tousling Futaba’s hair. “I’ll let it go just this once. But next time you meet someone, make sure you get their name!”

“Okay!” Futaba grinned with delighted determination. “I promise!” She jumped up and down excitedly.

“Alright now,” Wakaba told her kindly, “go on inside and get dinner ready.” She turned to the man waiting in the car, with the hat and the goatee. “I have to talk to Sojiro.”

Futaba nodded with comfirmation and rushed into the apartment building.

Wakaba approached Sojiro’s car, and he got out and walked towards her.

“Sojiro…”

“Wakaba.” Sojiro looked quite uncomfortable. “I’m… sorry about all that happened last night—”

“No, no!” Wakaba regarded him with careful affection. “Don’t be sorry. Don’t apologize. I’m sorry that I snapped at you. But…”

“I understand if you don’t want to get married, Wakaba,” Sojiro assured her. “I sprung it on you all too fast. I thought it was the perfect time, but—”

“No, it was a great time, Sojiro. But that damn idiot just had to interrupt and…” Wakaba looked a little angry at the memory of it. “I’m sorry you had to see all of that.”

“So… so you do?” Sojiro’s expression was hopeful. “You want to—”

“Sojiro. I… I would love to… but…”

* * *

“This was not a productive use of time,” Aigis noted as she and Mitsuru made to leave. “Our disguising ourselves and approaching Akechi-kun yielded no great results.”

“True enough,” Mitsuru agreed as she chewed. “But we did get some food.”

“That is true.” Despite not requiring sustenance, Aigis was quite enjoying the expensive snacks which Mitsuru had purchased. “This tastes wonderful.”

“Indeed.” Mitsuru paused a moment, putting great effort into her chewing. “Wait, what is it? It’s very stiff and chewy.”

“It would seem that it is some sort of chewy gum-like onigiri, bound with some manner of paste made almost entirely of sugar.”

“What?!” Mitsuru spat it out. “It seems that we’ve been ripped off. This isn’t worth anywhere near the yen I paid for it.”

“I don’t find it unpleasant in any way whatsoever.”

“Of course not! You didn’t pay for it, so you wouldn’t see anything wrong with it.”

“Then, what did you mean when you said ‘we’ve been ripped off?’ If only you paid for the merchandise, then I do not see a logical ‘we’ in this situation.”

“Why are the two of you wearing such strange clothes?”

Aigis and Mitsuru turned to the person who had spoken just then, a small woman with messy blue hair—

“Hisaya-san?” Aigis said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to speak to Goro Akechi,” Hisa explained, “but he disappeared before I could get a word in with him. And then I happened to see the two of you, so I thought I’d try to ask you some questions.” She turned to Mitsuru. “You, in particular, have a bit of explaining to do.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’d like to believe that my partner is wrong to suspect you of having a hand in stealing her research, but she’s made a valid series of claims,” Hisa told her. “I’d like nothing more than for you to prove to me that—”

“I know who you remind me of!” Aigis suddenly gasped. “I remember! You— you look like… Hisaya-san, you and her have the same hair!”

Hisa abruptly stopped talking to Mitsuru, and stared at Aigis in shock. “Who?” she demanded. “Who are you talking about?!”

* * *

“You’re back,” Shido commented, sounding exasperated. “You’re late. I’ve already grown tired of your tardiness.”

Akechi checked his watch. It had been roughly fifteen minutes since he had left the TV station, and he had rushed there as fast as he could. The distance lying between it and Shido’s office was really nothing to scoff at. He hadn’t been tardy at all. What was Shido talking about?

“Regardless,” Shido noted, seeming to forget Akechi’s lateness almost instantly, “You did a splendid job following the script. We won’t be wasting any time. This shall be your first target.” He opened up a folder of information, revealing a picture of a woman. A small woman in a black business dress, with equally black hair and rather clean-looking glasses.

Akechi looked upon the picture dubiously. What had this woman done wrong, he wondered? She looked like an ordinary person going to work.

Well, surely that meant Shido had an interesting reason. He smiled hopefully and awaited his instructions.

“Wakaba Isshiki,” Shido told Akechi. “A talented researcher specializing in the field of cognitive psience. Put simply, she is studying the Metaverse.”

“So she is?” Akechi mused. “I see. Why must she be eliminated? Could we not somehow enlist her assistance?”

“Silence!” Akechi shut his mouth instantly, and Shido continued, “Do you not think I have already thought of that?! I had Kaneto deliver a message to her, offering her my employment, but she insolently refused. As such, she has become a liability, and we have no choice but to kill her.”

“I see.” Akechi frowned. He wasn’t quite liking this, but he supposed it would be necessary.

“There is one complication, however,” Shido went on. “There is a child.”

These words hit Akechi like a bullet. A child? Wakaba Isshiki had a child?

Shido turned the page, revealing another picture. A small girl with a quirky appearance, glasses, and bright orange hair.

Akechi gasped.

Shido went on talking…

* * *

“I would love to settle down with you and live in a coffee shop. Make our special coffee. Watch Futaba grow up together. In our Leblanc.”

“Leblanc?”

“Of course,” Wakaba said to Sojiro, smiling a bold, beautiful smile. “Isn’t that what you’re going to call it?”

“But I didn’t think of that name,” Sojiro pointed out. “You did.”

“I know, Sojiro. But do you think you could have come up with a better name?”

Sojiro seemed to lose his words for a moment.

“No… I don’t suppose I could have,” he realized. “I’m not creative like you are, Wakaba.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Wakaba said, “and I think we would be perfect together. But, that said—”

* * *

“Aigis?” Mitsuru asked, concerned. “Who were you talking about?”

Aigis stared into the distance, remembering…

“Yuu Kimijima,” she recalled. “One of the researchers. My handler…” Aigis gently touched the red ribbon around her neck. The one she couldn’t ever be separated from. “There’s a reason I never let go of this!”

“Yuu Kimijima,” Hisa breathed in disbelief. “So you’re… Aigis. You’re her… her…”

Aigis nodded in confirmation. “I am.”

“Her… my…”

* * *

“The murder will need to be completed in a way that keeps the child from realizing what happened,” Shido told him. “As such, I shall need you to do some intel-gathering before Isshiki is eliminated. Find out what Isshiki’s daughter knows of cognitive psience, so that we may determine the best way to silence her without arousing suspicion.”

Akechi was disliking this more and more as it went on. That girl who he thought had been alone. Hadn’t had a mother. He’d been wrong. Did he really want to make himself right?

Yes, he was a murderer. Yes, he had killed a good number of individuals, but, none of them had really been innocent. They’d all done something to harm him, or to harm someone else. Something evil. They had needed to be punished.

Even Eiichiro Chisaka had been at least a little evil. He’d been arrogant, and sought to impede his mission. That had been evil enough, even not counting the many more thefts and frauds he could have enacted, had he not been stopped…

But this woman? He could not think of a single way to justify her death.

Akechi gritted his teeth.

“What’s the matter?” Shido inquired, looking annoyed. “You  _ are _ an Ace Detective, aren’t you? Even if you may be a fake, you could accomplish what I have asked quite easily, I’m sure.”

“Shido… Shido-san…”

“Is there a problem?”

Akechi was silent.

Shido banged his fist on the table. “Akechi! Are you deaf?! I’ll repeat it once more: IS— THERE— A—  _ PROBLEM?!” _

“Shido-san,” Akechi began, slowly, “I can’t… I-I won’t…”

* * *

_ “As much as I’d love to… I can’t. I can’t marry you, Sojiro…” _

_ “She… my mother… she knew you!” _

**_“I won’t kill her.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things I'd like to explain:
> 
> So I got a bit of (fair) feedback that my characterization of Akechi in this story, and the way I set him up in the narrative, didn't quite make sense. Since he starts out already crazy. Well, I actually had some pretty sensible intentions based on what he said in the game. And what Shido said. My intention was kind of to paint Akechi as a Well-Intentioned Extremist anti-hero type who slowly becomes totally evil.
> 
> I mean, it's like, Akechi is often compared to Light Yagami of Death Note. And like, in Death Note, Light starts out insane as it was, right? He's just a madman who sticks to his standard of only killing criminals. My train of thought here is kinda similar. He's crazy, he's killing people, because he hates what Shido did to him and wants revenge. But he has standards! And then... well, stuff happens.
> 
> I know that in the English version of P3, Mitsuru speaks French. But that was just a localization of English dialogue that she threw around in the JP original. I decided to go with Mitsuru being able to speak English here, and [acknowledge that they are speaking Japanese](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TranslationConvention), because that makes more sense to me when I consider the canon (and especially Persona 5's relatively explicit Japanese context, as opposed to Persona 3 whose plot seems to depend a LOT less on the setting of it).
> 
> In case Aigis eating food doesn't make sense: it seemed like it could be a thing she might do, since, well, as she gets more and more human in P3's plot and her Social Link, she develops more and more feelings and senses. Leading up to somehow having the power to discern wind that "feels nice" over wind that... doesn't feel nice? So I don't believe it crazy to think that she's capable of consuming food, if only to enjoy herself.
> 
> While this did initially start as just telling the story of Wakaba's death, I soon realized it'd be necessary to define the unknowns of her cognitive research and how it all ties into the story. So there will be a bit of exposition next chapter to reveal the background and stuff. I'll try to make it interesting, though, so I hope you will all enjoy it!
> 
> If you think this is great, cool. If you think it sucks, that's cool too. Either way, it'd be great if you left a comment saying so. Thanks for reading!
> 
> (Mac's in the middle of a D&D game at the time of writing/posting but I'm sure he'll reply to your comments if you say anything interesting. :) )


End file.
